Toad Sannin Naruto
by dguruishtar
Summary: Naruto, jinchuuriki of Konoha, aspires to be hokage. The tale of how he reaches greater heights, embedding his name in the hearts of the entire ninja populace. no yaoi ... ever. Rated M for language, violence/gore, innuendo, and possible lemons, no harem
1. Chapter 1 : Genins

Chapter One - Genins

Hey everyone, this is my first fanficcy. Hopefully I'll get better as time passes, please R&R, to help me carry out afore mentioned improvement :P.

Disclaimer: Naruto isn't owned by me neither are any of the characters.

Key-

"Normal Talking"

'Thinking/Mindscape talking'

'**Kyuubi Talking'**

(Announcements concerning place and time changes. Also author ramblings)

This is a Naruto centered fic, however main side characters will be Shikamaru. Naruto currently knows only the Kage-bunshin technique and will eventually become stronger, although I will be altering the story from the original. Hope you enjoy .

This all takes place after the Mizuki Incident.

A cloud floated in the light blue sky, gracefully. It felt nice and soft as the raven haired boy peacefully slept on it. The light blue coloured sky held not a single ray of light to disturb the lazy boy's slumber. Another cloud slowly soared by, leaving behind a cool gentle breeze in it's pa.. TRIIIIIIIING rang the alarm.

The boy shot up, his blissful dream shot down abruptly.

"Khe, menduksou", the first words that escaped his mouth.

He fell back on his bed, looking up at the ceiling drowsily.

'Gonna be paired up with Chouji and that Ino chick today. … Menduksouuuuu'.

Slowly he rose from the bed, leaving behind crumpled sheets and a dented pillow. He sighed yet again as he entered the bathroom, getting ready for his first day as a genin.

--

On the almost opposite side of town, a slightly shorter boy jumped out of his bed, excitement and happiness radiating from every inch of his body. The pale-yellowish orange haired boy ran into the bathroom, picked up his toothbrush and started scrubbing away.

After finishing off his daily activities he jumped out of the bathroom eager to don his attire and start his life as a newly instated genin. A wide smile, ran from ear to ear, as the whisker marks on his cheeks crumpled up into miniature smiley faces. He took another jump, bearly able to keep his anxiety under control.

'**OI! STOP FUCKING JUMPING AROUND! LEMME FUCKING SLEEP U GODDAMN CHIBI!'**

A tick appeared on our hero's forehead.

'DON'T CALL ME CHIBI BAKA-KITSUNE!', thought Naruto loudly.

After the Mizuki incident the fox had decided it was an appropriate time to introduce himself to his retainer.

_Flaaaaashback._

Naruto was in the hospital, being thoroughly manhandled by the staff (in the bad way). He was busy ignoring the nurse as she kept 'accidently' dropping random, sharp items on his person. He was suddenly jerked into a dark, moldy sewer. Overhead, broken pipes dripped a liquid, which Naruto hoped was water. He waged through the water, which reached up to his ankles. After a minute or so he reached a wide hall of sorts. Large brass gates lay in front of him held in place by a single piece of paper that read 'Seal', a single fluorescent light hung from the ceiling. Naruto looked at his surroundings, scared not knowing where he was. A slightly weird smell assaulted him, something that smelt like a wet dog.

'**I HEARD THAT!'. **came a roar, that shook Naruto to his very core.

The voice held great authority and pride. Naruto looked around for the source of voice, wanting to stay as far away as possible. Then, he saw two large crimson eyes open inside the cage. He felt the ground shake as the obviously large creature moved towards the gate.

He finally saw the creature, as it stepped into the light. For all Naruto could tell, it appeared to be a giant fox, nine tails swishing around randomly, chaotically. Deep orange fur adorned its form and large clawed paws lay two on either side of the monstrous fox.

Much to the little orange clad boy's credit, he managed to guess who or what this thing in front of him was. His fear disappeared as his mouth turned into a single straight line, face completely emotionless. "Kyuubi..", he silently whispered.

The Kyuubi pretended not to hear the little cretin.

'**Yo! I am the mighty, the great, the one and only, Kyuubi, king of demons, strongest amongst the nine tailed youkai and such. I am sealed inside you, your precious fourth hokage was responsible for this, and we are currently in your mind. Just concentrate and you'll be able to enter your mindscape again, goodbye.'**

Naruto was suddenly thrown back into the real world, the sight of the hospital ceiling coming to view, and an incoming syringe…

'…', he thought, still at a loss for words with the seemingly random introduction the Kyuubi had given him. He moved his head to the side as the syringe embedded itself into the pillow, turning it into dust.

'…', not wanting to have to be conscious when the nurse made her next move, naruto furrowed his brows, concentrating on the dark empty sewers he had just ventured through.

He found himself in the same, dark, gloomy corridor. He ran towards the hall, this time knowing where his next destination was.

'WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT U DAMNED STUPID FOX!', Naruto yelled at the top of his voice.

'YOU'VE BEEN TRAPPED INSIDE ME ALL THIS TIME AND THAT'S ALL YOU HAVE TO SAY FOR YOURSELF?', he continued slightly annoyed.

'**Yo! I am the mighty, the great, the one and only, Kyuubi, king of…'**, he was cut off by Naruto.

'I HEARD THAT THE FIRST TIME!'

'**Oh, it's you again'**, the fox replied, approaching the bars once again.

'…', was Naruto's reply as he was sure he was the only one that the annoying fox could meet in it's current 'situation'. However he felt something was off as he heard footsteps approaching him, softer, quieter footsteps, the ground wasn't shaking as it was before when the fox had approached him.

'**So.. what dyu wanna noe?'**, the fox casually replied, coming into view.

Naruto saw a tall man approach, around 6 feet 4 in height or so appear. He wore blue shinobi pants, and black sandals with flames drawn on either sides of the footwear. As he continued to look up, he saw the man wore a green sleeveless shinobi jacket, and on top of it a white lab coat of sorts, with yellow and orange flames drawn at the bottom. Naruto's eye slightly twitched as he was suspicious of who the fox was imitating. His suspicions were confirmed as he saw the face of the man, long yellowish hair fell down on either side as locks, while the rest spiked on the top of his head. The man wore a konoha hitae-ate on his forehead.

'…why'

'**Why what?'**

'Why do you look like the yondaime hokage?'

'**The real question here is why he looked like me!'**

Naruto sweat-dropped at this obviously failed attempt at humor.

'**Fine, it's cause the bastard forced me to live the rest of my life inside a midget of a boy, and not a very smart one too. And so, this way I can make fun of him all I want.'**, the Yondaime / Kyuubi replied, while shoving his index finger in his nose, digging around.

Naruto, now completely pissed and at the same time freaked out, decided to leave the demented kitsune alone, as he turned around and walked away, returning to reality.

_Flashback end_

Naruto quickly wore his orange outfit and looked at himself in the mirror, as he proudly put the hitae-ate on his forehead.

'**AAAAH MY EYES! TOO MUCH ORANGE! HOW CAN YOU CALL YOURSELF A SHINOBI, OR EVEN A HUMAN WHEN U WEAR SOMETHING LIKE THAT?'**, the Kyuubi raged.

'SHOO YOU DAMN FOX, ATLEAST I DIDN'T GET SEALED AWAY FOR THE REST OF MY LIFE BY SOMEONE ONE-TENTH MY SIZE!', Naruto countered.

'…**That was a very cheap shot'**

'Just shh, unless you have something important to say'

'**DON'T TALK TO ME LIKE THAT YOU LIT…'**, Naruto at this point decided to tune out the Kyuubi, muting the fox, one of the many powers he had being the retainer.

Naruto sighed, his spirits were not going to be dampered by the fox.

He ran out of his apartment, locking the door.

--

(Ninja Academy)

Naruto continued to ignore Iruka as he ranted on about.. something. Naruto respected the man deeply, especially after how he had saved him from Mizuki, but his lectures often tended to get a bit.. dull.

He was busy talking to Shikamaru, or rather, was annoying the nara, who was trying to catch a quick nap before the teams were announced. Naruto, known by most as the demon child or Kyuubi incarnate, and by very few as Uzumaki Naruto, barely has any friends, as most stayed away from him, as commanded by their parents too. However he did have a few, though very limited in number. They were, shikamaru and chouji, and to some extent even Konohamaru, though he was more of a disciple.

Shikamaru finally gave up and pulled his head up slowly. Slouching in his seat.

"What is it Naruto?", he brawled.

"Wanna make a bet?"

"What bet Naruto…", he said, half-asleep.

"A bet on what teams we're gonna be in!'

"I don't need your money man…"

"Don't worry I'm broke anyway!"

"…"

"…"

"Don't worry we'll bet on something else, you can choose what it is if you win.", said the ever ecstatic blonde.

"Fine.."

"Okay! I say my team is gonna be sakura-chan, me and uhh, fine, I'll take you."

"Right.. It's going to be me, chouji and ino, and your teammates will be haruno san and uchiha san. Now let me sleep."

Naruto nodded, waiting for Iruka to announce the genin squad assignments.

(Half an hour later, teams announced were same as in original Naruto)

Shikamaru walked along with Chouji towards the meeting point, where their new sensei Asuma, would be waiting. He smiled slightly as he passed Naruto.

" You owe me one shouji match Naruto."

Naruto sighed, he hated having to play with Shikamaru, who tormented Naruto by dragging out the game, "Fine…"

Naruto waited along with his two teammates, he frowned slightly at the Uchiha, who was his self-proclaimed rival, then pestered Sakura, who was his self-proclaimed love. She answered as she usually did, punching him.

After waiting for two hours, the three genin were getting impatient.

Naruto bored, sat down waiting for his sensei to show up.

He thought of playing a prank on the jounin, but using his better judgement, and constant shouts of insults by the imprisoned fox, made him decide not to.

--

Kitsune Fox

Baka Stupid

Hitae-ai Forehead Protector (not sure about spelling, please tell me if its wrong)

(spelling of hitae-ai, not forehead protector -.-)

Chibi Shrimp / Midget

Sensei Teacher

Kage-bunshin Shadow Clone

Yondaime Fourth


	2. Chapter 2 : Stinger

Chapter Two – Stinger

Disclaimer- Don't own Naruto or any other anime/games/manga mentioned in the chapter or story.

Key-

"Normal Talking"

'Thinking/Mindscape talking'

'**Kyuubi Talking'**

(Announcements concerning place and time changes. Also author ramblings)

--

Naruto sat in the chair, head rolling off to his side, as sleep took over. Their sensei still had not arrived and with nothing better to do, Naruto had decided to take a nap, the sleepy habits of the lazy nara having affect on him.

However, after a minute or so, he heard the door creak as it silently slid open. On instinct, he reached into his pouch and brandished a kunai. Tufts of spiky white hair stuck out from the doorway, followed by the rest of its body.

"Yo! I'm your new sensei, Hatake Kakashi.", said the new arrival.

"YOUR LATE", screamed the pink haired genin, who the jounin seemed to ignore.

"Hmph", snorted the anti-social Uchiha.

Naruto proceeded to sit up straight, not leaving the kunai.

The jounin seemed to notice this and gave a slight smile, or what seemed to be a smile, behind his heavily masked face.

"Well, good reaction there blondie. For all you know, I could've been an enemy ninja. However, I'm not, so anyway, meet me up on the roof and we'll get introduced. Ja!", and with a wirl of leaves he was gone.

The Uchiha just scowled at the compliment given to the 'dobe'. The jounin clearly didn't know that one of his students was an Uchiha, he thought.

Naruto's eye twitched slightly,

'Blondie..? Doesn't anyone know my name?'

With a sigh, he kept his kunai away and headed towards the stairs.

--

(Rooftop)

The jounin leaned against the railing, reading his smut book, giggling perversely every few minutes.

The three genin sat down, waiting for their sensei to acknowledge their presence.

The man continued to read his book for a whole minute, before he shut it and looked at the group in front of him. 'Why do I get the toughest lot?', he thought, having gathered information on his students from the Hokage earlier.

"Okay then. Let's start of with introductions, likes, dislikes, goals and stuff like that. You go first.", he pointed at sakura.

Sakura introduced herself, rambling on and on about Sasuke.

Sasuke then introduced himself, declaring his goal to kill his brother.

Finally the jounin looked at the blonde boy, disinterestedly.

"I'M UZUMAKI NARUTO AND I WILL ONE DAY BE THE HOKAGE!"

"…and?", Kakashi inquired.

"Uh.. well, I like ramen, training, sakura-chan and jii-san. I dislike sasuke, and some of the villagers and to some extent kyu… uh actually that's all.", he stammered, correcting his mistake.

Kakashi silently nodded, having noted that Naruto might have been in contact with the Kyuubi. However, as evidence was not enough, he let the matter slide.

"Alright, tomorrow morning 6am training ground seven, Survival training to determine wether or not you will become genin. Don't eat anything or you'll throw up. Later.", the man said, once again disappearing in a swirl of leaves.

All three genin wondered what the man had in store for them as they headed their separate ways, sakura hounding sasuke, and Naruto heading towards the ramen stand.

Naruto was once again jerked into his mindscape, this time directly in front of the cage.

'**Yo again!'**, the Yondaime impersonator greeted.

'…what do you want?', replied Naruto.

'Well I've noticed that among your group, you are the weakest link, even the pink haired kunoichi has an advantage over you, in terms of book smarts.'

'Thanks for the morale boost… but I'm leaving now', replied the boy, sick of having to listen to the crazy fox's ramblings.

'**Wait! What my point is, that you really need to improve your skills, and I need to find something to do. So how about a temporary truce? I'll train you, but in return you have to do me a favour.'**

'And what is this favour?'

'**Change my cage a bit, make it more comfortable, PIMP IT!'**

'…'

'…'

'**Yeah, I can't pull that off. So how about it?'**

'Fine, I guess', agreed Naruto.

'**Alright, get inside the cage so I can teach you the basics.'**

Naruto hesitated at first, however he reasoned that killing him would hurt the fox as much as it would him. He entered the cage cautiously, looking at his surroundings. He couldn't see anything, there wasn't enough light.

'**Okay, first things first. Imagine this cage to be a training ground of sorts.'**

Naruto did as he was told, and immediately his surroundings changed to that of a large arena. Open skies greeted him as the sun poured down, illuminating the grassy floor.

'Wow'

'**Yeah, since this is your mind, whatever you imagine this place to be, it takes up the very same form.'**

'Okay, so are you going to teach me any cool tricks? Maybe an awesome jutsu! Or maybe..', he was cut short by the fox.

'**Shut it for a minute kid. I said I'd first teach you the basics, since you're pretty bad at everything, ninjutsu, genjutsu and taijutsu. So, let's start. I'm gonna teach you some proper taijutsu, as from what I have seen, you are a close ranged fighter.'**

'Okay', replied Naruto. 'What weapon do I get to use?', he said anxiously.

'**Calm down, you'll be training with your fists and a kunai only.', replied kitsune.**

'Fine..', said the slightly downtrodden Naruto.

'**Don't worry, you're gonna be awesome like me in no time!'**

'…let's just start'

'**Alright, so make a few hundred clones first. If you hadn't noticed till now, when you dispel your clones, all memories and experience gathered by them is directly transferred to you, so it should help speed up your training.'**

'Awesome! I didn't know that.'

'**Yeah, figures. Now charge at me, with all your clones'**

'I've been waiting for this day for a looong time. I'm going to kick your ass baka kitsune.', Naruto shouted as he charged with his amll army of clones.

The yondaime impostor grinned as he saw the clones charge at him, baring his oddly sharp fangs.

--

(Two hours later)

Naruto lay on the floor, scratched, bitten, bruised, his clothes torn up. Kyuubi lay down a bit further off staring at the sky, not a single mark adorned his fake face.

'Damn it! I completely lost!'

'**Yeah well, I was your opponent, so you couldn't have expected anything less. I'm going to show you a couple of exercises now, go and practice them.'**

'I can't practice in here?', Naruto inquired.

'**Nope, this is just you mindscape, though training your mind is important, physical training will only be affective when trained physically.'**

'…what?'

'**Ja ne!'**, the fox replied as Naruto was ejected into the world again.

"Damn fox.", Naruto muttered as he headed for a clearing in the forest, where he could practice in peace.

--

(Next day, 8 a.m., training gorund seven)

"WHERE IS HE?", shouted sakura, taking circles.

Their sensei still hadn't shown up, and all of them were getting restless and fidgety.

"Yo!", came an approaching voice, as their sensei walked slowly towards them.

"WHERE WERE YOU?", roared sakura.

"That's not important", said the jounin, smiling at the girl.

"So anyway, here's what you have to do.", he took out two bells and hung them onto his side. He set an alarm clock for noon.

"You have four hours to get the bells from me. Anyone who doesn't have one won't get lunch and will fail. Come with the intent to kill me, use any weapons or jutsus you seem fit.", the jounin rattled off in a monotonous voice, sounding immensely bored.

The three genin tensed up slightly as they heard the rules.

"Alright, get ready and gooo", shouted the jounin.

Two blurs could be seen as Sakura and Sasuke both blurred out of view, leaving behind a cloud of smoke.

'Smoke? That's not smart, alerts the enemy of your previous positions', thought kakashi as he looked around.

Standing in front of him was Naruto, arms crossed.

"Fight me!", shouted the boy.

"Oi.. aren't you a bit off..", said Kakashi, not impressed by the boy's lack of guile.

"No point in delaying this!", shouted the boy,

"I'm gonna kick your ass and grab both the bells!", he said as he showed a wide grin.

"…fine", said the jounin as he reached into his pouch.

The boy visibly tensed, taking a step back, crouching.

The man pulled out his smut book and started to giggle as he read it.

Naruto, pissed off at the negligence shown by the man, charged him.

He aimed a punch at the jounin's face. The jounin sidestepped slightly, avoiding the punch, not having to even look up from his book.

Making te most of his momentum, Naruto swung around for a roundhouse kick to the man's side. Kakashi lifted up his right hand, as the kick connected with the metal bracer at the back of his glove.

Frustrated, Naruto launched of the ground, using his hands, kick aimed directly for Kakashi's chin. The jounin bent back slightly as the boy sailed over him.

" Never let an enemy ninja get behind you", said kakashi as Naruto landed, back facing towards his sensei.

Sasuke, noticed that Kakashi was facing Naruto, back exposed to him. Taking his chance, he fired off a couple of kunai and shuriken, from the man's blind spot. Hearing the slight whizzing sounds in the air, Kakashi ducked, falling into a squat, as the projectiles soared towards Naruto.

Naruto paled as he hastily dodged the projectiles. Rolling over, narrowly avoiding the last one.

'Shit', cursed Sasuke, as he jumped of the tree branch. 'I've given away my position', he though as he ran to find a new spot to hide.

Naruto meanwhile arranged his hands in a cross shaped ram-seal.

"Kage-bunshin no jutsu", he cried.

The jounin noticed this and looked up from his book slightly, amused that the boy could perform a jounin technique so easily.

Three clones ran towards the jounin, as the real Naruto stayed behind, still holding his hands in a cross ram seal, a dead giveaway thought the jounin. One of the clones aimed for a punch, while the other came up from behind, hoping to swipe his legs from underneath him. The third clone was still charging. Kakashi quickly switched places with the third clone, who was caught up in the crossfire between the two clones. He poofed out of existence as kakashi picked up two small pebbles from the ground below.

Without bothering to look up, he aimed and shot down both clones one after the other.

Then, he charged for the real Naruto. "My turn", he said as he punched the boy in the gut. Naruto gasped for air, then with a smirk, he too poofed into oblivion. Surprised, Kakashi looked around for the real Naruto.

However, there was no-one around.

He continued to read his book, walking around the training ground. Popping up from behind sakura, he cast a genjutsu upon her, leading her to believe sasuke had been fatally wounded. Not being able to cope with the stress, sakura immediately fainted. The jounin smirked slightly as he waited for the real sasuke to show himself.

Sasuke jumped out form behind a thicket of bushes, throwing two shuriken at the man. Kakashi lifted his hand and caught both of them on a finger each. Sasuke scowled as he went through some handseals, and then shouted, "Koton, gokakyu no jutsu", as he released a massive fireball at the jounin.

Said man, looked shocked as he saw the flaming inferno headed his way. He closed his book, but was swallowed by the flames. Sasuke smirked as he puffed up his arrogant chest in pride. However as he looked carefully he noticed a log lying on the ground, charred beyond recognition. He looked around, worriedly to try and spot where his sensei was.

Suddenly a jerk pulled him into the ground, leaving only his head above the soil. Kakashi smiled as he waved goodbye to the genin.

The jounin once again pulled out his book and headed into the clearing where he had initiated 'The Bell Test'. He saw Naruto waiting for him, kunai brandished in right hand, left hand held out in front, parallel to the ground.

'Hmm haven't seen that style before', thought the jounin.

Naruto smiled as he saw the jounin put aside his ecchi novel. He charged at the man, slicing at his neck. Kakashi hopped back, reaching into his pouch to take out his won kunai. However, before he could get a grip on the weapon, Naruto quickly reaching into his own weapons pouch had launched two shuriken with his left hand. One soared towards the jounin's hand, the other went way too high, flying over the man's head, grossly mistargeted.

Kakashi quickly retreated his hand, as the shuriken soared by, not able to take out his weapon. The other shuriken, flew over him, he didn't even need to duck. His lip quirked up a bit as he realized, Naruto was not going to let him equip a weapon.

Naruto charged again, jumping and aiming for an axe kick to Kakashi's head. The jounin dodged to the side, as the boy's foot landed in the grass with a thud. Not wasting a moment, Naruto slashed out at the jounin's vest, forcing him to jump back.

As kakashi dodged the swipe, he felt something was off. He saw Naruto smirk, as he stepped back. Kakashi reached into his pouch and branded a kunai in his right hand. He was surprised to see Naruto step back further away, holding his hand in the form of a ram seal. Hi eyes widened as he looked under his feet, to find the shuriken that Naruto had 'missed', under himself, tagged with an explosive seal.

Naruto smirked his plan had worked. Kakashi sensei jumped back, and he signaled for the seal to explode. A loud resonating boom echoed the forest as Kakashi was flung into the lake behind. He had managed to minimize the damage of the explosive by quickly jumping back, however was still shocked as he landed in the lake with a splash.

Naruto smiled happily and started to jump around, doing a victory dance of sorts. He missed the kunai thrown towards him by Kakashi, who was slowly wading his way towards the shore. The kunai pierced the boys chest and then fell to the ground as the 'boy' poofed out of existence.

Kakashi was surprised at the boys innovative methods. He wondered if he had really fought the boy anytime during the day. That's when realization donned upon the one eyed man. He recalled, that when he had given the signal for the bell test to begin, the two genin had disappeared leaving behind a small cloud of smoke. He smiled as he realized that was when Naruto had created the shadow clones. He acted out the par tof a reckless, restless genin, however had most likely gone and hidden himself, sending his clone to do the dirty work.

He looked around the ground, trying to spot the real Naruto, but to no avail.

Naruto was having a great time, he had managed to conceal his presence and even use the new taijutsu style that the Kyuubi taught him. The taijutsu style, 'Tonfarin'(yeah, I did just make that up XP) was difficult to learn and even after hours of training, Naruto hadn't managed to make much progress. However, restless that he was, he had decided to use it against Kakashi. Though it did not have much affect, it was better than how he originally would have fought. On the other hand, one of the skills Kyuubi had taught him, seemed to work like a charm. The Kyuubi had taught him how to mask his presence by hiding his chakra. Since Naruto had an excessive amount of chakra this wasn't an easy task. However, against Kakashi who did not expect a boy of Naruto's caliber to be able to mask his presence, it had worked. It was a gamble on Naruto's part, but had worked out well.

Kakashi once again took out his book, flipping the pages, giggling oddly. He saw four Naruto clones, suddenly poof into existence, and was about to reach for a kunai when he saw the clones run off deeper into the woods. 'What is he up to now?', wondered the silver haired jounin.

The Naruto clones ran off into the woods, their master had given them both specific tasks to carry out. The first two clones reached his designated target, Sakura. Finding her lying on the ground, one decided to check her pulse. The other clone kept guard over her.

The other two clones ran through the multitude of trees, jumping over stray branches. One of them stumbled across a strange site, and called to the other. They both went to take a closer look. It was Sasuke, embedded in the ground. They helped him out and then relayed the orders that Naruto had told to deliver to Sasuke.

Kakashi was getting bored, soon the time would be up and another genin team would be failed. He sighed, was quitting the ANBU really worth it? He did have more free time now, but on the flip side had to deal with these greens. However he snapped out of his reverie as he felt the presence of one of his students approaching. Sure enough, Sasuke appeared into view, holding a kunai, dirt stuck to his shirt, scowl adorned on his face. He was followed by two Narutos. 'Ah, that's where he went', thought the jounin.

'This time might be different', he thought, smirking.

"Yo!", he shouted yet again.

"Hmph", replied Sasuke.

As soon as Kakashi had walked into the middle of the clearing, the Naruto clones lunged forward at the man, attacking from either side. The man easily fended them off however noticed that the Uchiha was busy flashing through some hand seals. His eyes widened, as the clones jumped back and a large fireball shot straight at him.

Sasuke smirked as he released the fireball, forcing the jounin to maneuver towards his right.

Kakashi knew something was wrong, as the fireball seemed to soar towards his left, missing him entirely. Still, he jumped towards his right, laching onto the clones, and throwing them into the blazing ball, incinerating them. As he continued to jump back he felt something brush up against his leg, however saw nothing and so, put it off as his imagination.

Sasuke smirked as he accomplished his part of the plan. The alarm clock rang and the time was up.

Kakashi summoned the three genin to a memorial stone. Sasuke limped towards the place, having been buried had caused to legs to go numb. Naruto too staggered his way, chakra exhaustion taking its toll. Sakura was carried in by two clones, and managed to regain consciousness just as they approached the meeting point. When she saw who the people carrying her were, built up rage was released, smacking the Narutos out of existence, literally.

Kakashi frowned as he told the genin to stay silent for a moment.

"This stone here marks the names of all the great heroes of the village..", Kakashi said solemnly.

Naruto had the urge to declare that his name too would one day be inscribed on the stone. However he was stopped by the Kyuubi's low growl,

'**That is a memorial stone, and the names inscribed are of those that died, serving the village.', **he stated.

Kakashi and his students all observed a moment of silence, as he traced two names with his finger.

"So, back to business", he said, turning back to his cheerful / bored tone.

"You guys did pretty well, Sasuke and Naruto applied team-work to try and pry me of the bells. Team-work is important for the overall success of the mission. However, remember those that abandon their mission are scum, but those that abandon their comrades are worse than scum. Sakura, one of the team members was under the affects of a genjutsu, Naruto, or rather his clones kept guard over her body, hence satisfying that objective as well,", Kakashi said, smiling at the group.

The genin all sighed in relief , happy to have passed.

"However.. you did not get the bells, and since that was your objective, you all fail.", said Kakashi in a serious tone.

"Hehe, you mean these ones right?", said Naruto sheepishly as he held one and Sasuke the other.

Kakashi quickly checked his side, to find the string holding the bells cut, the bells gone.

"When did you… ?", he asked, slightly shocked.

"I was the pebble you threw at the clones to disperse them!", grinned the blonde boy.

"I quickly used henge to transform myself into the pebble, then produced a kage-bunshin to play my part.", he explained.

"I see.. well in that case you all pass!", smiled the one eyed ninja.

"You can take the rest of the day off, tomorrow we'll meet at 7am, to carry out our first mission.", with that the jounin disappeared.

Naruto smiled happily as he pocketed the bell and continued his usual routine of asking Sakura out for a date. Sasuke too, smirked a little as he headed towards his mansion, followed by Sakura who in turn stuck to her routine of asking him out.

--

Kakashi appeared in front of the Hokage, ready to report.

The Hokage looked up from his paperwork, an old man, lightly tanned, wrinkled skin and eyes that held the experience and wisdom of the shinobi world. Eyes kind enough to make a baby laugh, eyes that could instill fear in the hearts of the most seasoned veterans.

"Hatake Kakashi, here to report about team seven"

The old man lit his pipe and took a deep puff before he spoke.

"Ah Kakashi, how's work?"

"It's fine, sir. More relaxing than the last job I had."

"Ah well the ANBU are the elite after all, as I'm sure you know."

"Hmm", replied the jounin flipping a page in his book. The Hokage currently was more of a sensei to the one eyed jounin than leader of the village, hence he felt comfortable enough to read his icha icha book in front of the man.

"Ahh", sighed the Hokage as he drew another puff from his pipe.

"Alright, report.", said the Hokage.

The book was immediately snapped shut and pocketed as Kakashi made his report.

"Haruno Sakura, a love-stricken fangirl, exceedingly book smart, however lacks any talent in any of the ninja arts. She is hindered by her blindsided 'love' for the Uchiha.

Uchiha Sasuke, stoic, emotionless, excels in ninjutsu, and though I haven't had the chance to examine it yet, his academy results show his taijutsu wasn't bad either. His addiction to getting revenge on his brother may become troublesome."

"And Naruto?", asked the hokage.

"Hmm.. Well, his taijutsu is some new type of style that I haven't seen before, however I can make out is full of flaws and needs to be worked on. His ninjutsu skills though not perfect will become a formidable weapon later on, due to his vast amounts of chakra and stamina. He is certainly not as smart as the Nara kid he hangs out with, on the contrary is quite idiotic at times. However, his in-situation analytical skills and strategies are almost flawless… almost. He has potential, and its gonna be tough reporting about him, because his report isn't likely to stay the same for more than a day or two. What hinders him, is his excessively emotional attitude."

The Hokage chuckled, " Potential, eh? Haven't heard you say that about anyone for a very long time. Alright, you may leave Kakashi. I'll give you your first mission tomorrow."

Kakashi, moved towards the door, but was stopped as the Hokage spoke up again.

"You knew he was that pebble all along didn't you?", said the man with a grin on his face.

"Hehe, you were watching. Goodbye then Hokage-same", and with that the man was gone, leaving the Hokage to ponder over his thoughts.

"Naruto, you always were an interesting one.."

--

Naruto sat on his bed, trying to eat his instant ramen. Trying being the keyword, as the Kyuubi refused to let him eat something that was most likely the cause for his 'midget-ness' as the fox had kindly put it.

Every time Naruto would put the chopsticks in his mouth the Kyuubi would flash in front of him, a disgusting photo, such as that of a booger or a person vomiting.

Naruto tried to close his eye and continue his meal, but since the photos were being sent directly to his brain, it didn't have much effect, though he did manage to shove poke himself in the eye in the process.

He was getting pissed at the damned fox, resilient to finish his ramen, if only to defy the kitsune, he tightened his grip on the chopsticks, picked up a particularly large piece of pork and noodles, and shoved it into his mouth.

The Kyuubi too was determined, he flashed an image of Sasuke in a man-thong.

Naruto went wide eyed.

" SON OF A ..", he shouted only to start choking on the noodles midway throught the sentence.

He lay writhing on the bed, eyes watering, chopsticks flailing around.

'GOD DAMN FOX LEMME EAT IN PEACE!!'

'**I WOULD IF YOU ATE SOMETHING MORE MANLY YOU BRAT. I DON'T WANNA BE STUCK IN THE BODY OF A LITTLE WIMP LIKE YOU FOR THE REST OF MY LIFE!'**

'AS SOON AS I GET THIS NOODLE OUT OF MY THROAT, I'M GOING TO COME IN AND KICK YOUR ASS!'

'**BRING IT ON, BITCH!'**

'…who talks like that….'

'…**yh I dunno what came over me.'**

'khe, stupid fox'

And, the fox was muted yet again, before another battle of come-backs could ensue.

An hour later when Naruto was done eating his ramen vegetables included, much to his dislike, he decided to go continue his training.

'**Okay, so here's what you have to do today. First make 50 clones, and get them to practice the tree-climbing exercise I told you about earlier. Then get 50 clones to do physical training, push ups, sit ups, blah blah.'**

'…', Naruto did what he was told and then listened for more instructions.

'**Okay, now I'm going to continue your training on Tonfarin. Make some more clones and then tell them to do upward, downward, sideways, and diagonal slashes with the kunai. This should help them get familiar with the kunai. Now, you will be practicing your taijutsu, as Tonfarin is a style which utilizes mainly your taijutsu, with the help of taijutsu suited weapons as well.'**

Naruto finished instructing the clones, and then proceeded punching and kicking a nearby tree.

After five hours or so, night fell and shadows lengthened until the ground looked like a pitch black canvas. Moonlight shown through the gaps in the clouds, briefly illuminating the hundreds of blondes that were laboriously working.

The Kyuubi was impressed with the boys commitment and stamina, but wouldn't say so, in fear of feeding the boy's ever growing ego.

'**Alright, that's enough for today, get back home and then dismiss your clones. I don't want you fainting in the middle of the forest, you'll be killed, by either an animal or more likely, one of you precious village people.'**

'Don't insult them baka', said the tired Naruto drowsily. 'And why would I faint?'

'**Mental stress, you don't have enough brain power to be able to handle the load'**, though this was a lie on Kyuubi's part. Anyone would have fainted after the collective memories of so many clones was suddenly received, that is of course if anyone could even produce so many clones in the first place.

'I have more brain power than you do stupid fox'

'**Sure you do chibi'**

The walk back was long and boring. To pass time Naruto decided to ask the fox some questions.

'Hey fox, tell me why you attacked Konoha in the first place?'

'…**I don't feel like answering, it's a sore topic, but know that it wasn't my fault.'**

'Ah, so does that mean that you didn't want to but were forced to? And your actually a good guy?'

**'Haha, no I was just messing with you. What happened on that night was, I was bored, very very boored and had absolutely nothing to do ...'**

'Good night baka-kitsune', cut in the irritated Naruto not wanting to have to listen to anymore crazy fox than he had too.

--

(Next Morning)

Naruto felt better than ever, he had listened to what the fox had said and released the clones, once he was safely in bed.

He was glad, because as soon as he did, unbelievably large amounts of exhaustion overwhelmed his body. To defy the stupid fox, Naruto had tried to stay awake, however after two minutes of this semi-consciousness he was down like a log. Kyuubi though, inside him had been very impressed. 'What an unpredictable boy', the last thing he thought before he too fell asleep.

The morning air felt refreshing as Naruto opened up a window. He had time before the meeting took place and so he leisurely finished all his morning activities and changed into his ninja clothes.

Naruto was heading towards the bridge, where team seven was destined to meet, when the Kyuubi woke up.

'**Oi, where dyu think you're going?'**

'To the bridge, my first mission today.'

'**No point he wont be there for another 2 hours or so. Lets go back to the forest and see how far you've progressed instead.'**

'Hmm, fine I guess you're right.'

'**Always am.'**

Once they reached the forest, the Kyuubi spoke again.

'**Alright, try the tree climbing exercise.'**

Naruto did what was asked, and much to his surprise was able to travel up the entire tree, as if it were second-nature to him.

'**Alright, that went well. Now I'm going to teach u a new move with the kunai, it'll help you increase your speed drastically.'**

'Alright! Finally!'

'**Okay, try a forward plunge with your kunai, it should feel lighter than it did before, thanks to you physical training yesterday.'**

And, it was. Plunging the blade forward felt almost as easy as punching air.

'That's it?'

'**Lemme finish brat. Now what you're gonna do is plunge the blade over and over again, in a stabbing motion. This move is called Stinger(yup DMC it is). When you can do it fast enough, you shouldn't have a problem reaching a million hits in less than a minute. It's a truly devastating move, guaranteed to hurt your enemy even if most of your attacks do miss. However it's not as simple as it sounds.'**

'Doesn't sound simple at all to me…'

'**Well, that's mainly cuz your an idiot. Moving on, what you have to do is apply chakra to your triceps BEFORE you stab in front. This has to be accurate to a T. If you apply the chakra at the wrong time, it could lead to accumulation of chakra in you muscles, rupturing it, and to a certain extreme, causing a miniature explosion in your arm. So remember, for each stab you make, you will have to apply and remove the chakra precisely. You chakra control wasn't very good, and hence the tree climbing exercise was necessary.'**

'YOSHA! I feel good about this. Don't worry I'll master it in these two hours itself.'

'**Ha!',** snorted disbelieving fox.

Naruto started by creating a couple dozens of clones, and instructing them all to practice the stinger technique. Then, he too did the same.

--

(Two hours later)

Naruto slowly walked towards the bridge, right arm slung in a make-shift cast. Murmuring about how chakra was a pain in the ass and how the world would be better without chakra (hehe, it's not, is it? :P).

Kyuubi meanwhile was laughing his ass off. He was watching Naruto carefully from within the now grassy domains of his cage. Once, he saw Naruto plunge the kunai first and then apply the chakra to his muscle. The Kyuubi stared at the poor boy, knowing what was going to happen next. The arm recoiled violently as the boy shot backwards, colliding with his clones, dispersing around five of them. The kunai had manages to end up stuck inside his arm, causing a torrent of blood to gush out.

His teammates were very annoyed, they had been waiting for their sensei for two hours now, but what was worse, was the fact their third teammate too was missing. Seeing the boy walk lethargically towards them, Sakura followed her usual trend, screaming her ass off at him for being late. Naruto too tired to explain, just endured the constant tirade of shouting.

Half an hour later, their sensei showed up, holding a small scroll in his hand.

"Yo my kawai little genins!", he said, only to receive three angry stares in return.

"Right, here's your first mission.", he opened the scroll and started to read out loud.

"Catch the missing cat tora and return her to it's master."

"Easy", replied Naruto. How wrong he was.

--

(Later on in the day, Nara House Roof)

The three boys sat on the bench staring at the sky.

"So what was you first day like?", asked Shikamaru.

"Spent half my chakra catching that bloody cat.", replied Naruto.

"Hmm, we did the same thing in the morning today.", replied Chouji, stuffing a handful of chips into his mouth.

"Khe, so lets get this over with", said Naruto.

"Alright, the board's already set.", replied the nara.

Both boys moved into position as they started the shoji match.

"I bet 100ryou on Shikamaru", said chouji.

"Me too", replied shikamaru.

"Yeah, me too", said Naruto.

"…"

"…"

After the first five minutes of play, Shikamaru exhaled a long, deep sigh.

"What!", replied Naruto, slightly annoyed.

"You weren't any fun man. The game will be settled in 3 moves."

"Ha! I'll prove you wrong this time Nara."

"Khe, you never learn."

3 moves later.

"GOD DAMN YOU, YOU PINEAPPLE HAIRED FREAK", replied Naruto, as Shikamaru lazily held him from leaping at him, using his Kage-mane no jutsu.

'**HAHA you lost again chibi. Haha, chibi chibi chibi chibi',** continued Kyuubi.

"LIKE YOU COULD DO ANY BETTER DAMN FOX!", Naruto shouted out loud by mistake.

If there had been any villager nearby, they would've immediately called for Naruto's execution. However, both, Shikamaru and Chouji knew about Naruto's resident and that he could communicate with it too. They were the only two in the village Naruto trusted with this information.

He trusted the Hokage too, but he knew telling him would add more worries for the old man.

Shikamaru had figured out that Naruto was the container for the Kyuubi on his own though. The matching birthday to the day of the Kyuubi attack, hatred for the child in the village, suspicious whisker marks, all had lead the intelligent boy to come to the conclusion that he was the Kyuubi's jailor. He had wondered for a while if Naruto was as the villagers said the Kyuubi incarnate, but after getting to know the boy, he had decided otherwise.

Chouji had been told by Shikamaru, and gentle natured person that he was, he didn't mind being Naruto's friend.

Soon after, the first time the Kyuubi had made contact with Naruto, he had confided in the two boys.

Shikamaru raised an eyebrow, as he released his hold on the boy.

"Hmm, for making the match so boring Naruto, let the Kyuubi play one match against me.", said Shikamaru.

Naruto asked the Kyuubi if wanted to play.

"The fox says you're gonna regret having challenged a kitsune, and blah blah."

"Alright I'll set the board again", replied the nara, a bit more enthusiastically this time

'**So you gonna let me control you body then?', **the Kyuubi asked hopefully.

'You wish. You're gonna tell me what you want to do, and I'll move the dice for you.'

'**Khe, fine.'**

And so the match of shoji began, between the human and the youkai.

Five minutes into the game, Shikamaru had analyzed the match enough to make a prediction.

"Alright, in 50 moves, I'll win this match.", he said.

"The fox says something like How dare he mock me and that you'll never be able to beat him.", said Naruto.

"Hmm, he's right"

"He is?", said Chouji.

"He is?", said Naruto

'**I am? Ahem, I AM.'**

'…'

"Yup, he is, I'll only be able to win in 55 moves, and considering that the fox will try to win by cheating, when I'm not looking, I would say a maximum of 62 moves.", replied the nara.

61 moves later

Shikamaru moved the lat piece and ended the game, sealing his vitory.

"That's sad, even for a kitsune", said Chouji.

"Yeah it is.", said Shikamaru.

"Yeah, he's not replying anymore.", said Naruto, smirking at the detestable fox.

--

(A week later)

The sky was a dark velvet in colour, cloudless, the moon's silvery rays of light hit the earth, creating a ghostly affect. Naruto was returning to his apartment, after his daily routine of training. He had managed to perfect the stinger, but could not hold it up for more than 15 seconds at a maximum, or in other words 250,000 hits.(yes I did calculate, cuz well, im just that jobless, sigh.) Though his weapon was just a kunai, with those many number of hits, even if he was holding a blunt spoon, it would cause massive amounts of pain and quite possibly a fatal wound.

The Kyuubi was impressed and this time, thought the boy deserved some praise.

'**Good job chibi. 15seconds mastered in a week is a really tough task, but you did it, good job.'**

'Yeah, thanks… DON"T CALL ME CHIBI!'

He finally reached his apartment and unlocked the door, pushing it open. He quickly put his weapons pouch and ninja accessories away, i.e. threw them wherever he could and fell face first onto his bed.

He dispelled his clones, and felt the comforting embrace of slumber take over his self.

(Morning cometh(just felt like typing that for some reason) )

The alarm clock rang, creating an ungodly sound, wrenching Naruto from his peaceful rest. He woke up hastily scrambling to switch the noise off. He finally stumbled across it by mistake, muting the annoying contraption.

He carried out his daily tasks, still half asleep.

'**Since when do you have an alarm clock? Do you do these things just to annoy me? Huh?'**

'…', althought there was some truth to the Kyuubi's words.

Confused he ran back to his room staring at the brand new alarm clock, shaped in the form of a ramen bowl.

'Hehe I like it'

'**Of course you do…'**

He looked at a note sticking out from underneath the clock, it read:

"_Dear Naruto,_

_I hope you liked your new alarm clock. Hope your missions are going well and that you are in good health. I need to see you and your team in my office by 8o' clock sharp. Enjoy your present._

_Yours truly,_

_Hokage"_

Naruto grinned at the letter, then noticed there was less than 10 minutes left. He hurriedly wore his ninja attire and ran towards the Hokage's tower.

'**Relax, your sensei won't be their for quite some time to come anyway.'**

'Yeah, I guess.', he said relaxing, however still keeping up his pace.

He finally reached the office and knocked on the door, sure that he wouldn't be the last one here, and his tardiness would be forgiven. He turned the knob and pushed the mahogany door, as it opened with a click.

Standing in front of him were his two teammates and… his sensei.

"Aww, c'moon. The one day you decide to show up is when I'm late?", he accusingly stated to his sensei.

The jounin, still reading his book, replied without looking up, "Yo Naruto. Tardiness isn't something to be taken lightly, it can get you badly injured in the ninja world."

Massive sweat drops formed behind everyone's heads, including the Hokage, and his hidden ANBU guards. The height of hypocrisy had been reached, with that single statement. Naruto just joined his teammates shaking his head.

"Ahem, now that we're all here, let's get started.", said the hokage.

The icha icha book snapped shut as four pairs of eyes, uh… three pairs of eyes and an eye looked at the Hokage with attention.

"I have called team seven in to, give them their first C-ranked mission. After a week of D-ranks, I believe you are suited enough."

"ALRIGHT!", yelled the hyperactive blonde.

His teammates stared at him angrily, but they too felt excited.

"Alright then your mission will be to escort the princess of the waterfall country, Princess Kuri to Konoha. The waterfall country is currently in conflict and the royal family wants the princess to be taken to safer havens for a while. You will leave as soon as you are ready and make haste. Good Luck.", said the Hokage.

Kakashi nodded once and herded his little genin out.

Once outside the Hokage tower, he too debriefed them.

"Alright, it's a two day trip to waterfall. Waterfall is currently on the brink of a civil war. However that is not important. What is important is that we must escort the princess back here, without letting any harm befall her. Pack your weapons; make sure everything is still intact. Carry rations, and meet at the main gate in precisely an hour. Go!", the tone of his voice had completely change, as the three genin noted. It held more of a professional, authoritative tone, one that guaranteed respect and obedience.

The three genin split up, making their way towards their respective homes.

--

Kage-mane no jutsu – Shadow Bind Technique

So yeah, this is where I 'take control' of the plot. Hope you liked it.


	3. Chapter 3 : Precious People

Chapter Three – Precious People

Disclaimer- Don't own Naruto or any other anime/games/manga mentioned in the chapter or story.

Oh and help me out by reviewing the story :D tell me what I'm doing wrong, what aspects of the story I should change or make improvements and blahh.

Key-

"Normal Talking"

'Thinking/Mindscape talking'

'**Kyuubi Talking'**

(Announcements concerning place and time changes. Also author ramblings)

--

Naruto threw his backpack onto the bed, he clipped his weapons pouch onto his belt, making sure all the kunai, shuriken, explosive seals and bandages were in place. He then focused on the backpack. He threw in a couple of empty scrolls, a map of waterfall, that he had found in a world atlas and all the instant ramen packs he could find, avoiding the vegetable flavored ones.

A picture of Sasuke suddenly flashed in his mind, as fear settled into his heart. Slowly he moved his hands towards the vegetable flavored ramen packs and grudgingly into his backpack.

Kyuubi smirked inside his retainer.

Naruto hoisted the backpack onto his shoulder and quickly exited the apartment. He rushed towards the main gate. He saw that Sasuke was already standing there, perpetual scowl masked onto his emotionless face. He saw Sakura approaching as well. Sakura looked around, not seeing her sensei there, she started her ranting again.

"EVEN WHEN WE FINALLY GET AN IMPORTANT MIS…"

She was cut off , as Kakashi appeared with a swirl of leaves.

"Good, you're all here. Now listen up, first, there will be no mention of the mission until I approve of it. Complete confidentiality. Second, we won't be using our real names as we'll be passing through Iwa(Stone) Nin territory which is sort of an enemy ground. So from here on out, your codes names will be cockatail, ramen and bubblegum respectively", he said as he pointed Sasuke, Naruto and finally Sakura.

Sasuke glared at the jounin with silent frustration.

Naruto didn't mind his nick name, although it did make him slightly hungry.

Sakura joined Sasuke, as she too glared daggers at their sensei.

"What about you sensei ?", said Naruto, the only one still interested in talking to the jounin.

"Hmm, haven't thought of anything as of yet. You guys got any suggestions?", he asked.

Both Sasuke and Sakura grinned as they thought of a couple of not-so-decent nicks that they felt suited their instructor.

Naruto however, beat them to it.

"Hmm, well the first thing I noticed about you was your hair, and how it resembled an upside down fang, so how about White Fang?"

Kakashi looked shocked at how the boy had unknowingly given the man such a great honor. He smiled at the unpredictable boy, "Yeah, sure that'll work. Alright let's go."

And with that, team seven left Konoha, for their first C-Ranked mission. The Ninjas jumped from treetop to treetop at break-neck speeds. Naruto felt the anxiety, the anticipation boil inside him as the distance from Konoha increased. They continued their journey for most of the day.

They stopped late in the evening, when it became nearly impossible to see ahead of them. They set up camp, and lit a bonfire. They were still in Konoha territory, so lighting fires did not endanger them. Kakashi sat in a circle with his team around the campfire. He evaluated their conditions easily, having been an ANBU captain. Sasuke looked tired, but did not show it, most probably because of his pride, thought Kakashi. Sakura looked tired and didn't bother hiding it at all. Naruto on the other hand looked fresh, due to his large chakra pools, Kakashi concluded.

"Tomorrow we enter Iwa-nin territory, so we will have to be extra cautious. If we are discovered, we might be put to death immediately, so I advise you all to stay weary of your surroundings.", as he said this, he handed each one of them a small wireless communicator that fit in their ears.

"Tap that once to start talking, and tap it twice to mute, if you find yourself in a dangerous situation. Use the code names given to ensure security. You guys can go ahead and sleep, I'll keep first watch."

With the shuffling of feet, the three genin quietly set up their sleeping bags and quickly fell asleep.

Naruto closed his eyes, and entered his mindscape.

He walked through the water slowly, not in much of a hurry. When he reached the hall, he found Yondaime waiting for him, openly scratching his armpits like an ape.

'…'

'**Yo chibi, what brings you here?'**, said Kyuubi as he noticed Naruto enter the hall.

Naruto didn't even bother arguing with the fox, instead he just sat down against the wall opposite to the bars.

'Hey Kyuubi…'

'**Yondaime'**, interrupted Kyuubi.

'… I wanted to know something.'

'**What is it chibi?'**

'If I were to die, would you be released into the world?'

'**No, unfortunately my death is linked with yours as long as I'm trapped in here.'**

'That's good to know'

'**What's with the sudden need to know? And why do you look so depressed?'**

'It's just that, Sakura-chan keeps rejecting me.'

'**The flat, pink haired banshee has a name?', Kyuubi joked around**

Naruto just stared at him angrily.

'**You shouldn't bother about her, she's weak and obviously infatuated with that Uchiha. If you forget about her, you'll feel better and besides there are so many better girls for you. For example that ramen stand chick, Ayame I think. I sure as hell wouldn't mind boning…'**

Naruto returned to reality, cursing at the fox. However like always, the idiotic comments of the fox, did hold an extremely small amount of truth.

--

(Next Morning)

Naruto quickly packed his sleeping bag and stuffed it into his backpack. He ran towards the stream nearby, and washed his face, getting rid of the drowsiness that early morning carried.

Once the rest of team seven was ready, they quickly erased all signs of there presence in the forest and took off. They had to stop many times as a patrol until passed by.

Kakashi was in the front and Naruto in the rear. Sasuke and Sakura, in the centre. They kept up their rapid pace of travel as they progressed deeper into enemy territory.

They soon entered Waterfall, having managed to reach undetected.

They pulled up their henge, disguising themselves as normal citizens, not wanting to draw attention. The walked towards the palace, through the narrow, crowded streets. The place felt at a complete contrast from Konoha. Citizens loitered around the streets as vendors sat on either side of the already crowded lanes, selling assorted goods.

They finally made it to the palace, through tumultuous tide of people. The castle was an extremely large one. Whit marble tiles made up the walls and floors of the giant structure. The ceiling was dome shaped, decorated with various paintings. As they reached deeper into the castle, they took of their disguises and were immediately surrounded by a group of 4 ANBU. The ANBU captain wore a horse-shaped mask and had his ANBU katana equipped.

"Welcome Konoha ninja, state your purpose here", the man stated the latter part of his sentence sharply. His words were laced with killing intent.

Sasuke shuddered as a grim feeling of death washed over him. Sakura had fallen to her knees, involuntarily shivering. Naruto flinched a bit, however was largely unaffected. Many of the mobs that had come after him during his birthday bash(pun intended) had contained surprisingly large amounts of ANBU.

Kakashi has taken out his book and started flipping through the pages as soon as he had gotten rid of his henge.

He noticed the killing intent and without looking up from his book released his own, completely raw and unfiltered in nature, directed at the ANBU ninja. He giggled lecherously as he continued to flip the pages, while two of the Waterfall ANBU fell to their knees. The captain started to shake as the grip on his weapon loosened, and it fell to the floor, making a cluttering noise.

The three genin suddenly felt much more at ease, though they didn't understand what was happening to the other ANBU ninja.

'**Ah, the legendary ANBU captain comes out to play eh?'**, roared Kyuubi.

'Huh?'

'Never mind chibi. Keep your guard up.'

And with that the demon fox fell silent.

Kakashi apparently decided that it was time for him to have a chat with the ninja. He snapped the book shut, and stopped the flow of killing intent. The ANBU ninja looked relieved and the captain quickly sheathed his blade.

"I. I'm s..so..sorry for the in..inconvenience", the captain stammered. "L…Let me escort you to the main chamber.", he said finally getting a hold of his fear.

Kakashi smiled at the man, "Sure, lead the way."

The genin looked slightly confused at the exchange of words. However, subconsciously respect for their sensei had risen.

They followed the ANBU captain, as he lead them to the main chamber. Once there, the captain bowed slightly and disappeared within the blink of an eye, leaving nothing behind, no leaves or smoke. The genin stared wide-eyed at what had just transpired. Kakashi smiled as it brought back memories.

The princess sat on a golden throne, velvet cushions lines the seat and the back. The throne was crafted in an intricate design, a true work of art. On tope of it sat a woman of astonishing beauty, around eight years older than Naruto. (Naruto – 12, Woman of astonishing beauty – 20)

She possessed a perfectly heart shaped head. Auburn hair fell on either side of her head, reaching up to her shoulders, the rest of it tied behind and held in the shape of a bun by a single black (I'm going out on a limb here and gonna say…) elongated chopstick (yeah, very awe-inspiring aint it? Hehe moo).

Her eyes narrow and perfectly symmetrical, thin, elegant nose and full lips were capable enough of capturing any man's attention. She wore a red kimono, decorated with golden-yellow leaf shaped figures. The kimono, slightly open in front, perfectly outlined her voluptuous body.

Naruto gawked at the view ahead. Sasuke too couldn't help but stare. Kakashi sighed in relief, at least now he was certain of what Sasuke's sexual orientation was. Sakura looked at the woman jealously. Kakashi had a slight nose bleed, though it was hidden by the mask.

Naruto unconsciously walked towards the throne. The woman saw him staring and immediately snapped at him, "What are you looking at?".

Naruto still in a stupor like state blurted out what he was thinking about.

"Hmm, is that ramen you were eating?", he pointed to the empty bowl that one of the servants was carrying on a tray.

"I didn't know they had ramen in Waterfall…hmm", he drawled on, drooling from the side of his mouth.

Everyone in the room stared at the blonde ninja, sweat drop slowly growing in size as the boy kept talking.

The Kyuubi grimaced as he watched his container make a complete ass of himself.

"Anyway…", Kakashi continued, drawing attention away from the boy.

"…We are here to meet with Princess Kiri. We have come to escort her to Konoha.", he finished.

Naruto had started following the servant, hands raised, much like a zombie. Kakashi noticed this and decided to handle the situation. He quickly dragged Naruto and entrusted them to the hands of his other two pupils.

The woman on the throne replied, "I am Princess Kiri, and I'm not going to leave the throne, so you better go back home."

Kakashi hesitated slightly then bowed once and headed out with his team.

"What should we do now sensei?", asked Sakura.

Naruto had come back to his senses and was listening carefully, as he was quickly filled in on the situation by Kyuubi.

Kakashi sighed, he hated having to deal with aristocracy.

They continued walking, when a small, elderly man walked up to them.

"Are you the ninjas sent from Konoha?", he asked in a low voice.

"Yes we are.", replied Kakashi.

"Ah, that's good. I'm Veda, the man who requested the mission.", said the old man.

"Follow me, and I'll show you your lodgings and further explain the situation to you.", said Veda.

The ninjas followed the old man and soon arrived at a large two bedroom apartment. The man opened the door and handed the key to Kakashi, then continued to walk inside. The room was well furnished.

Naruto had never seen such a place, the apartment was clearly three times the size of his, back at Konoha. The old man sat on one of the chairs and motioned for the others to take a seat. As they sat down, he began to explain what the situation in Waterfall currently was.

"Waterfall as you all know, is in a state of unrest. Recently there have been attacks on our city by a demon named Sanctum. He seemingly attacks our city every week for no reason at all. Half our numbers have fallen, slain by this evil fiend. Princess Kiri is the last successor alive. However she won't be allowed to take over until she reaches the age of 21. She has another two months to go and I fear for her safety. However, she is slightly stubborn and refuses to leave her people at the mercy of this demon, while she runs away herself. I hired Konoha Ninja, because I have seen how safe Konoha is and wish you to escort her there.", Veda explained.

"Alright, but we might have to do this against her will, is that fine?', Kakashi asked.

"As long as you don't hurt her.", replied Veda.

"Alright then. We will escape the city tonight, tell the guards to stand down and leave the city gates slightly open.", said the jounin.

"Thank you, all preparations shall be made.", replies Veda and with that, left the ninjas to their planning.

Kakashi indicated for the genin to come closer as he rattled off his plan for the night, explaining everyone's role.

--

(Later that night)

Kakashi, under a henge quietly snuck into the servants quarter and casting a genjutsu, put the servants to sleep. He saw a tray, that held the Princess' cup of tea and silently reaching inside his vest, he pulled out a small capsule and poured its contents into the tea. He picked up the tray, and headed towards the main chamber,

(Main Chamber)

The princess sipped her tea as she went over a scroll, regarding important information about Waterfall. Kakashi stood beside her, still under the henge. He watched her finish her tea and silently fall towards the floor. He caught her before she could make contact.

Naruto and Sakura immediately cancelled their henge, leaving the chamber room, with two less statues. They carried the princess carefully as Kakashi leaded the way. They rushed past the corridors, quickly towards the castle gates. Kakashi knocked thrice and waited.

Hearing the signal, Sasuke once again made sure the coast was clear and silently opened the gates from the outside. Team seven, now re-grouped headed towards the city exit. They got past most of the way without trouble, however as they reached the gates, the same group of ANBU appeared, weapons drawn. Kakashi and Sasuke both immediately drew their kunai.

Naruto having spotted the ANBU signaled for sakura to stop. The ANBU hadn't spotted them yet. Noticing the ANBU squad from earlier, sakura nodded to Naruto and both of them quietly hid in an alley, trying to find a way around the ninjas.

Meanwhile, Kakashi had noticed Sakura and Naruto secure the princess and quietly make a getaway. He smiled, proud at his students' common sense. Sasuke had visibly tensed and his breathing had gotten slightly erratic and rushed.

Kakashi noticed this and whispered to the Uchiha besides him,

"Cockatail, I trust you. Don't worry, I don't let my comrades die."

Sasuke for some unknown reason felt slightly better and for once, gave his sensei a genuine smile.

Kakashi smiled back at his pupil, "Remember when facing an enemy stronger than you, the most suitable way to attack is by increasing your numbers. When your numbers are high, make sure that your breathing is slow and calm, matching with all the others in the group."

Sasuke slowed his breathing, matching it with Kakashi's. Both, sensei and pupil stared at the ANBU squad, there were two of them.

'Shit!', Kakashi mentally cursed. 'The other two must have gone after Naruto and Sakura. Better finish this off fast'

"Good", he said to Sasuke who was now in rhythm with Kakashi. "When your breathing is completely synchronized, that is when you STRIKE.", and with that last outburst, both Konoha ninja lunged at their targets in unison.

Cling. Clang.

Voices of metal hitting metal echoed through the night as the ANBU parried the attacks the Konoha nin made.

Kakashi, hadn't practiced his ANBU skills for a long while now. However he had been an ANBU squad captain once, and that too for a village like Konoha, where ninjas were known for their impeccable skill (lol, I felt like typing in awesomeness) and awesomeness (hehe, couldn't resist).

Kakashi struck forth with his kunai as the ANBU captain managed to bring up his blade just in time to parry. Kakashi kicked the man in the stomach, but the captain had anticipated this and quickly jumped back. Kakashi spared a glance at his student.

For a genin Sasuke was holding up extremely well against the older, more experienced man. His first attack had caught the ANBU by surprise, opening a wound on the man's side. This slowed down his movement, but he was still faster than Sasuke was. As the ANBU begun his relentless attack, Sasuke barely managed to keep up, dodging blows and blocking incoming projectiles with his kunai.

Kakashi had judged by the ANBU's movements that he was a rookie, however still a viable threat for the boy. "You don't have time to look away", said the ANBU captain as he lunged at Kakashi with his blade pointed forward.

"Maa, that is such a clichéd line.", replied Kakashi, as he turned his body just enough for the man's hand to fly past. Grabbing hold of the captain's wrist, Kakashi forced him to drop his weapon. The man swung with his other arm unexpectedly, causing Kakashi to let go. The captain jumped back, creating a distance between him and the silver haired shinobi.

Sasuke was getting tired, fast. His reflexes were slowing down, not a good sign. The ANBU noticed this and managed to break past the boy's defences, slashing at his shoulder. Sasuke narrowly avoided a fatal injury as the cut formed on his left shoulder, blood seeping through the clothing. The ANBU smirked behind his mask as he lunged forward, bring down the weapon, aiming to cleave the boy's head. Sasuke looked up, knowing it was the end.

--

(With Naruto and Sakura)

Naruto and Sakura quietly crept through the dark alleys and narrow streets as the managed to make their way around the ANBU squad. They had managed to get past the city gates. They leaned the princess against the wall and Naruto gave Sakura an appreciative thumbs up, who returned the gesture.

They were still celebrating their little victory when they heard two soft landing noises. As they turned to look around, they saw two ANBU facing them, weapons equipped, one wore a rat shaped mask and the other a rabbit shaped one. Naruto immediately went into battle mode. Ceasing his childish antics, he put on a serious face. This could very soon turn ugly.

'WAKE UP YOU DAMN FOX!', he thought.

'**Ugh, what is it chibi'**, replied sleepy Kyuubi

'Two ANBU's, hostile. It's them versus Sakura and me. However I don't think it's wise for her to fight.', Naruto said, quickly analyzing the situation.

'**Roger. Don't worry I'm keeping your healing factor under control, just try not to get too many fatal injuries. And yeah, tell **_**bubblegum**_** to back off.'**, said Kyuubi snapping into attention, still finding time to make fun of the situation.

"Bubblegum, stand back, guard the princess.", stated Naruto solemnly.

"Ramen..", sakura was worried, however the change in Naruto's demeanor had given her a boost in confidence. She took out her kunai and stood guard near the princess' body.

Naruto too had unsheathed his kunai, 'Let's see what I've learned from you so far, Kyuubi.'

'**Yeah, good luck Naruto.'**

The fact that both of them had referred to each other by their actual name, and not a nick-name made to annoy the other, showed just how serious the situation was.

Naruto took in a deep breath and spoke, "Yo ANBU! How about we make a deal?"

The rat ANBU replied, "You can't talk your way out of this. You both WILL die."

Naruto replied, "Heh, I'm not trying to talk my way out of anything. I was just proposing an offer. So here it is, you both promise not to attack either one of the chicks, and in return, I'll promise to make your death fast and painless."

The ANBU that had replied earlier once again answered, "Don't get cocky brat, your life is already forfeit."

With that the ANBU charged Naruto, while the other headed for Sakura.

--

(With Kakashi and Sasuke)

Kakashi stared as the captain flashed through hand seals at a lightening quick pace. Kakashi smirked as he realized what the ANBU was going to do. He reciprocated by the captain by starting off his own array of hand seals at a much quicker pace. Both finished at the same time.

"Katon: Ryuka no Jutsu", shouted the captain.(Fire dragon)

"Suiton: Suiryudan no Jutsu", shouted Kakashi.(Water dragon)

The two dragons met head on as they created a spectacular view in the night sky. Both dragons held each other at bay, not budging and inch.

Kakashi rapidly started passing through hand seals. The captain seeing this, started a jutsu of his own.

The captain finished first this time, shouting, "Doton: Doryuheki" (Earth Release Wall) as a massive wall of earth shot up from the ground. He didn't notice that Kakashi was simply faking the hand seals. Kakashi saw his chance and smirked as he started going through a new set of hand seals.

The blade seemed to arc down upon Sasuke's head. But, it all seemed to be happening in slow motion to Sasuke. He saw the blade and knew where it was going to land, and knew how to doge it, and so he did. He rolled out of the way just as he managed to catch a reflection of himself in the mirror, what he saw, made him ecstatic. After all his years of training, they had finally been unlocked, his sharingan! One tomoe in his left eye and two in his right.

The ANBU looked shocked as he saw the near-dead boy dodge his attack. Sasuke quickly jumped up and pressed his foot at the top of the ANBU's blade, digging it into the ground. The ANBU tried to pull it out, however was punched aside by the boy. Sasuke, using his sharingan, knew exactly where the ANBU would land, and rushed to the spot. He appeared beside the ANBU driving his foot down in the from of an axe kick, driving the man's body into the ground. The man lay on the ground, dead. Sasuke's first kill.

Kakashi had the captain trapped. He finished his hand seals and cancelled the water dragon jutsu. As the water dragon collapsed, the water seeking back into the ground, the fire dragon continued its path at a monstrous speed, crashing into the ground, where Kakashi had been. Kakashi had burst forward, right hand held low, the other clutching it at the wrist. He shot forward barely a second before the fire dragon crashed behind him, a truly fearsome sight. His hand crackled with chakra, no.. with lightening itself. It made the sound of a thousand birds chirping, and glowed with a bright white light. The man raised his hand as he approached the target, the earth wall.

Not knowing what was happening, the ANBU captain kept his earth wall up as he hid directly behind it. He heard a chirping noise and then saw a bright light, the last thing he saw. Kakashi had his hand raised parallel to the ground now, with a mighty roar he announced the name of his technique, "RAIKIRI!". And with that, his hand pierced the hard earthen wall, like a hot knife through butter, and continued it's path directly through the ANBU captain's chest.

Sasuke watched in amazement at his sensei. A day earlier he would have described him as a lazy, incompetent and perverted nobody. However now, what he saw in front of him was an ex-ANBU Captain, battle hardened veteran, a legendary ninja.

--

(With Naruto and Sakura)

Naruto ducked as the rat ANBU's blade flew over him. He slashed with his kunai, managing to connect with the older man's thigh. The ANBU jumped back as he felt his right leg weaken. Naruto saw the rabbit ANBU headed for Sakura and fired off a shuriken towards the man, which was deflected easily.

"Your fight's with me", Naruto reminded the man.

The ANBU with the bleeding leg spoke up, "Finish off the girl, I'll take care of this brat."

The other man nodded as he prepared to strike Sakura again.

Naruto would have gone to intercept Sakura's attacker, but had to evade a strike aimed by his opponent. Naruto analysed his surroundings as he came up with a plan. He jumped to the right as the rat ANBU's blade soared past him. Knowing that the ANBU would take time to strike again, Naruto quickly fired off two shuriken at the rabbit ANBU.

Sakura held her kunai defensively as she saw the man charging at her. She shook as the man was less than a foot away. That's when she saw a shuriken fly towards the man. The rabbit ANBU's momentum worked against him as he couldn't turn around in time to dodge. The incoming shuriken lodged in his right hand.

Naruto knew that a shuriken would not be enough to stop the man, so he had hidden another shuriken, wrapped in an exploding seal in the first one's shadow. He made sure that the first one struck the rabbit ANBU's flesh, while the second one, stuck to the man's jacket.

Said ANBU groaned in pain as he collided with the wall. He pulled out the shuriken from his hand, but did not notice the one stuck to his jacket, as it hadn't pierced his flesh.

"Run bubblegum, take the princess with you", said Naruto as he ducked under a slash from the rat ANBU's blade.

The rat ANBU was getting pissed as Naruto seemed to keep ignoring him. He planned to end the boy's life quickly, he took out a kunai and held it in his left hand, slashing at the boy, who ducked, as expected. Seeing his chance to strike, the rat ANBU deftly brought up his right hand, ANBU blade steady and plunged it into the boy's shoulder.

Naruto was shocked as the blade pierced into his left shoulder. He felt the cold metal penetrate his skin. However, the ANBU wasn't done, he continued to push the blade until it stuck deeply into the wall, pinning the boy with it. Naruto was defenseless as he was forced into the wall.

'**Chibi you better activate the seal now, or the pink one is gonna be killed'**, Kyuubi stated calmly, trying to get Naruto to focus.

Naruto however was in a state of shock, the blade was sharp and cold, and it hurt like hell. Sure he had been hurt by the villagers and had a few near death experiences as well, but he knew that he'd be fine the next day. However, now, he wasn't so sure, he saw the rat ANBU flash through some hand seals and felt fear as he thought of all his dreams, expectations, that would never come to be.

The Kyuubi saw what was happening and was disgusted.

'**Once a coward, always a coward. You decided to be a ninja, so that all your dreams would die here? At the hands of a nobody, in the middle of nowhere?'**, the Kyuubi mercilessly scolded the child.

Naruto could hear him, but didn't have the heart to respond.

'**I can't believe I wasted my time on you. Trust me, the minute you pass out, I'm gonna take over your pathetic human body, and I'm going to CRUSH Konoha. Won't leave a single person alive, and I'll be sure to give you precious Hokage a niiiice slooow death.'**, the Kyuubi dragged out his word to emphasize his point.

Naruto shook in rage as he thought of the vile, disgusting Kyuubi taking over his body. He clenched his fists as he thought of all his precious people being killed by the bastard fox. His eyes went wide with unbridled rage at the thought of his jii-san being killed by the fox.

'I'd rather die then let you hurt MY people', Naruto thought with pure malice.

'**Hehe, finally showing your colors chibi?'**, taunted the Kyuubi.

Naruto gave out an inhumane roar as he pulled the blade out from his shoulder, red chakra swirling around him as he snapped the blade in two with his bare hands.

Without even sparing a glance at the rabbit ANBU, he brought his hand up in a half-ram seal. "Kai.", and with that the rabbit ANBU's torso flew off the rest of his body with a sickening crunch and a loud boom.

The rat ANBU took a step back, having lost his teammate and his weapon in one fell swoop. He took out his kunai, and readied himself. He stared at the boy, but the boy was gone. Naruto rapidly took off as he appeared behind the ANBU.,

"**Die.",** he said in an oddly distorted voice. His rage had seemingly made him unable to form full sentences.

The rat ANBU turned around, shocked as he was met by the sight of red slitted-pupils.

"**Stinger.",** said the boy coated in red silently, as he brought his right arm up, holding the kunai.

What happened next was too fast for the rat ANBU to comprehend, he remembered bringing up his own kunai, ten seconds after which he felt the kunai crack into pieces and five second after which he had a huge gaping hole, where his chest used to be.

0 seconds

Naruto brought up his right hand as it blurred out of view, plunging forward at the ANBU repeatedly. The upper part of his hand could not be seen, and the lower part moved so rapidly, it would seem as if the boy had grown four more hands.

10 seconds

He had kept stabbing at the man's kunai until cracks appeared in the weapon and fell to pieces. However, by then his own kunai too had been destroyed. Quickly letting go of his kunai he used his elongated claw-like nails(thanks to the Kyuubi chakra), to continue the attack. He stabbed the man and felt his body crumble as the claws repeatedly entered and left the ANBU's body.

15 seconds

The man lay on the ground, a large cavity in his chest. He was dead. The red chakra, slowly returned inside Naruto, as his claws retracted and his eyes took back their original color. Naruto stared at his right hand, shocked, it was covered in blood, and he knew it wasn't his own. Naruto's first kill.

The Kyuubi inside was drooling at his mouth, the bloodlust that had filled his cage, the gore that he could see through the boy's eyes, but most of all the sight of the ANBU lying on the ground, surround by _blood_. He felt good! He felt the warm fuzzy feeling in the bottom of his heart as he stared at the mutilated corpse. Ah, it had been so long since…

Back to Naruto.

Naruto looked stunned. He had just taken another man's life. Words could not describe how he felt right now, neither could he himself. He knelt down besides the dead man, blank look on his face.

'**Oi, get over it already. The man's dead and you had to do it for the mission and more importantly for your teammates, isn't that what your sensei keeps preaching on about?'**, said Kyuubi.

Naruto acknowledged the fox's words and after saying a few words for the fallen went to retrieve Sakura and the Princess.

--

(With Kakashi and Sasuke)

Sasuke looked stunned at his sensei.

Kakashi wrenched his hand from the dead man's chest and cleaned off the blood.

He turned around and looked at the dead body of the other ANBU lying besides his student

"Good job there cockatail. Let's go find the others, I fear that they were discovered by the other two ANBU.", Kakashi said to Sasuke.

Sasuke twitched his eye at the nick-name but nodded at his sensei as he they quickly made their way to the city gates.

(City gates)

Kakashi smelt blood in the air, and hurried up his pace. Sasuke already finding it difficult to keep up, now found it to be near impossible.

Kakashi arrived at the place where Naruto had fought. He found the corpse of an ANBU, wide hole in his chest. A bit surprised, as he didn't know what technique could have made such a big hole, he continued walking.

Sasuke too had seen the body and small feelings of doubt had made their way into his heart. 'Couldn't have been Naruto, no way.'. he kept repeating to himself.

As the continued on the path they found another body , torso and legs lying separately. Kakashi was as confused as Sasuke was, 'Could Naruto have done this?'

They continued their walk as they finally saw the two genin. A Naruto clone was keeping guard along with Sakura, and Naruto was sitting in the shade of a tree, the unconscious princess by his side.

Naruto's jacket had been torn near his left shoulder, but the wound was already healed. He had his right hand in a cast and besides the small blood stains on his clothing and his slightly muddy appearance, the boy looked fine. Kakashi sighed in relief to find that both the genin were safe.

"Good job you both, you did well getting rid of the ANBU", Kakashi said, praising his pupils.

"Huh?", replied the Sakura, she had been taking the princess to safety and had missed the fight.

"Which one of you fought the ANBU then?", Kakashi asked.

"Me, Kakashi-sensei", replied the blonde.

"Ah, good job then Naruto", though he didn't let it show Kakashi was extremely surprised. 'He managed to fend off and defeat both of them by himself?', he thought, impressed by the boy.

Sasuke silently seethed as he wanted to know where the 'dobe' had got such powers from.

Sakura looked dumbfounded, 'He managed to defeat them both? I thought he created a distraction and quickly escaped.'

"Alright. Cockatail and Ramen, both of you had your first kill today.", said Kakashi.

Both genin nodded, Sasuke slightly smirking.

"What's important is that you don't let it get to your head, and also that you don't obsess about it. What's done is done, you had no other choice but to kill them. If you hadn't, they would've killed you, then your teammates, after which an international situation might have arisen as well.", the one-eyed man explained.

"You did your job, and you did it well.", he finished off.

Sasuke's smirk grew bigger, his ego fed.

Naruto nodded at the man, feeling better. He wouldn't be the same again, but he wouldn't dwell on it anymore either.

"YOSHA! Let's go!", said Naruto enthusiastically.

"Yeah, let's move out", said their sensei, as the ninja quickly started their journey back. Kakashi was carrying the princess as the genin were all tired.

Sakura asked the jounin as they increased their distance from the city, " Won't we get into trouble for killing their ANBU?".

"No. You should've been more attentive bubblegum. A ninja must look underneath the underneath. They all had their hitai-ate slashed, signifying that they were nuke-nin. Also, none of them had the ANBU tattoo on their arms, which most probably also meant that they weren't ANBU.", said the jounin.

Sasuke and Naruto both felt slightly down after having heard that their opponents weren't ANBU. (yeah. I mean genin wouldn't win against ANBU…duh)

"Hehe, you guys look down. Be glad they weren't ANBU, because if they were, you wouldn't have lived to see tomorrow.", Kakashi said cheerfully.

Slightly scared the genin wanted to get back to Konoha as soon as possible.

After they had made enough distance between themselves and the city, they decided to set up camp.

They set up one large tent in which they lay down the princess. Sakura and Sasuke slept outside the tent, Kakashi perched up on top of the tent, reading his book by the moonlight, and Naruto, with help from his clones patrolled a certain perimeter around the tent.

As the night passed, team seven members took turns until the same positions were reached again.

It had been several hours or so and Kakashi heard muffled noises from inside the tent. He waited to see what was happening, and soon enough, the princess was escaping from a hole she had made in the back of the tent, using a knife.

Kakashi sighed as he radioed Naruto.

"Come in ramen. Over", he said

"Ramen here. Over", replied Naruto

"The princess has escaped the tent, heading south-east. Over"

"I'm on it. Over"

Kakashi sighed once again as he returned to reading his book.

--

(Forest)

Naruto ran after the princess, who was currently trying to escape through the dense forest. Naruto was slightly annoyed, having to jump over fallen branches and stray through the dense foliage.

He finally caught up with her. She had sprained her ankle when she tripped over a root. Naruto slowed down and walked over to her.

"Alright, princess or not you're pissing me off!", he said. "Let's go back"

The princess shook her head, "NO! I'm going to stay on the throne and there's nothing you or the people of Waterfall can do about it."

"Stop being such a selfish, spoiled brat!", Naruto said in an exasperated tone.

As Naruto slung her over his shoulder, walking back towards the camp, she started to protest. In a downtrodden, sad voice she said, " Let me go! Let me go and protect my precious people."

Naruto stopped as he heard this. He put her down against a tree and looked at her, "What?", he asked her.

"I said let me go and be with my people!", she said angrily to the blonde.

"Why do you care so much?", Naruto asked.

"Because they are my people, my future subjects. All my life they have hated me for being the king's bastard daughter. Last year when the king and his legitimate daughter were killed in an accident, the people started blaming me. They won't accept me as a person, labeling me as an illegitimate child. Wouldn't it serve to fulfill their accusations if I just ran away? I won't run away. I'll stand by my precious people even if it means dying at the hands of that demon. This way, they'll be forced to acknowledge me, for who I am.", she said in a slow, tearful voice.

Naruto felt his heart writhe with indecision. He knew that his mission was to escort her back to Konoha. However by doing so, would he be denying her a chance to be acknowledged by her precious people? Would he be denying a person exactly similar to him, a chance to achieve her dream?

He decided what had to be done. He created two shadow clones. He got one to transform into the princess and told the Naruto clone to carry her back to camp.

"What are you doing?", asked the princess as she saw the clones appear and take her shape.

"Khe, I'm getting into trouble", he sighed.

He picked the princess up and started to head back for the city.

"Why are you doing this?", the princess asked him, confused.

"Well, I have a similar story", replied Naruto and with that he started to narrate the story of his life. How the Yondaime had sealed the Kyuubi and how he too strived to gain recognition.

After having heard what was sealed inside him, the princess shuddered slightly in his hold and involuntarily tried to back away.

Grief had overcome the boy as he felt what the princess was doing, "Yeah that's the same reaction most of the villagers had too", he said with a sad smile.

The princess realizing what she was doing, felt terrible. She saw how he was exactly similar to her, yet had suffered far more than she could ever have. She slung her arms around the boy and hugged him, "I'm sorry".

Naruto not used to the strange sensation, gave her a wide grin, "It's all right princess"

The princess smiled, something about the boy gave her hope.

"So what do we do now…uh, what's your name again?", asked the princess.

"Oh my sensei told me that to keep complete confidentiality we should use code names, so you can call me ramen.", Naruto replied

The princess laughed as she remembered the first time she had seen him. "It suits you."

Naruto smiled at the princess as he continued towards the castle.

--

(At the team seven camp)

The Naruto clone returned with the princess, who seemed to be asleep.

"I'm back with the princess.", Naruto whispered as he placed the princess inside the tent.

Kakashi nodded, "Good, return to your patrolling duties, we'll switch shifts in ten minutes"

Naruto nodded and showed Kakashi a thumbs up, "Sounds good."

Kakashi's intuition told him something was wrong, but he couldn't say what it was.

--

(Main gates)

The princes had fallen asleep in Naruto's arms. By the time they made it back to the city, it was early morning. The princess woke up with a yawn, as Naruto greeted her, "Good morning princess."

She smiled at him as he place her down, "Good morning ramen."

She walked past the gates and continued walk along the main street, followed by the blonde boy.

The streets were empty, as the vendors has just started setting up their stalls. He could hear murmurs of 'bastard child' and 'illegitimate filth', as he walked passed the stalls. It enraged him.

"Why do you still think of them as your precious people? Why do you tolerate all of this?", Naruto asked the princess angrily.

She smiled at the boy's defensive behavior, " For the same reason you tolerate your special people back in Konoha, ramen-kun."

Naruto sighed, he hated the fact that what she said was true.

They had nearly reached the castle gates when they heard a huge roar.

Both of them turned around to see what it was. Naruto was shocked, while the princess was angered at the sight ahead. Standing on top of the ruins of the city gates was a huge, monstrous ape like thing. It stood on it's two hind legs and spanned over twenty feet in height. It's skin crimson in color and it's dark black fur adorned his neck like the mare of a horse. It had four horns that grew on top of it's head, in the form of four axes' of a compass.

It held a black colored sword in its hand, with half a golden colored dragon inscribed onto the blades surface. The hilt and guard were both black in color as well. The guard in the shape of a cross. In his other hand he held a shield, totally black in color, the surface adorned with concentric circles, on top of which, the other half of the golden dragon was drawn.

The beast, Sanctum, as Naruto had guessed by now, had a single eye and each time it opened it's mouth to roar, it revealed his sharpened fangs. A true monster.

The princess looked at the monster angrily, "That's the reason for all the sorrow in my land."

Naruto nodded in understanding.

As the castle gates opened, the princess told Naruto to herd all the villagers to the safety of the castle. She told him that the castle was strong enough to withstand the attack of the demon.

Naruto nodded at the princess as both of them split up and ordered the people to hide in the castle. Naruto had managed to clear his side and headed over to see how the princess was doing.

He saw that she had managed to clear her side as well, except a small child that seemed to have strayed away from the crowd. She was crying as she called for her mother. Her mother was struggling to break through the crowd as she headed towards her daughter. The princess saw this and turned around to see what the problem was. She saw the small girl wandering around aimlessly, but more importantly she saw the demon set his eyes on the little girl.

The demon saw the little girl, and bored that he was, he decided to have some target practice. He swung his blade a horizontal arc. Naruto saw this and sighed in relief as he saw nothing happen. However the expression on his face soon changed to shock as he saw long black colored bolts shoot out from the sword. The bolts attacked the city in the same horizontal arc the demon had swung his blade. They destroyed buildings and statues.

The princess saw the bolt heading towards the small child and ran to save her. Naruto shouted as he saw what was happening. He pumped chakra to his feet as he saw what was happening. The bolt drew closer to the little child. Naruto accelerated using the maximum amount of chakra his legs could hold.

The princess pushed the child away as the bolt came shooting down, and with a slicing sound and a searing hot flash of pain, the bolt had impaled the princess.

Naruto skidded to a halt besides the princess, "NO!" , he shouted.

Naruto never paid much attention in class, but he could see that the wound was fatal. A mixture of sadness and anger flooded his system as he looked at the dying princess. He pulled out the bolt, as it burnt his skin off, leaving a large black wound. Despite the pain, he didn't flinch a bit.

He picked up the princess' body and lay it down next to him.

The princess looked at him, taking her last breaths, she spoke, "I'm glad I got to meet you…"

"Naruto. Uzumaki Naruto", the boy replied.

The princess smiled as she repeated, "I'm glad I met you Naruto-kun."

Naruto tried smiling but couldn't. His tears started to fall freely. He looked at the princess and spoke with determination, "Don't worry I'll protect you precious people as well as mine. And I'll make sure they recognize you for you."

The princess smiled, "Thank You.", and with that she had passed on.

He softly placed the princess down as he got up and took out his kunai. Hi hand hurt as he tightened the grip on it. He looked at it to see a small black wound still present.

'**About that, the bolts seem to have some sort of weird elemental chakra infused into them that's preventing me from healing you completely. So if I were you, I'd try to NOT fight that thing, get the hell out of here and forget about all that mushy promise stuff'**, explained the fox.

'Just do your fucking job Kyuubi', replied Naruto in a cold, dead voice.

'**This is not going to end well.'**

--

Kekeke, I'm getting used to writing action scenes now, and yeah Naruto is definitely gonna be fighting that thing, if you hadn't guessed by now.

So once again, please read and review. And I hope you enjoyed!


	4. Chapter 4 :Sanctum

Chapter Four – Sanctum

Please read and review, thanks.

Disclaimer- Don't own Naruto or any other anime/games/manga mentioned in the chapter or story.

Enjoy!

Key-

"Normal Talking"

'Thinking/Mindscape talking'

'**Kyuubi Talking'**

(Announcements concerning place and time changes. Also author ramblings)

--

(Waterfall)

**Naruto gripped his kunai harder as he reached into his pouch for another kunai, which he yielded in his left hand.**

'You're finally going to try out your Tonfarin style, and that too on that guy?', Kyuubi asked.

'Shut up fox. I managed to do the stinger didn't I?'

'**No. ****I**** managed to do the stinger even with your chibi like body. And it still ended up screwing your arm.'**

The fox was muted as Naruto focused on the demon ahead.

Naruto roared at the top of his voice, enhancing it using chakra, "HEY APE! LEAVE THE PEOPLE ALONE. I'LL AVENGE THE PRINCESS' DEATH, BY KICKING YOUR ASS INTO THE GROUND."

This wasn't a very good idea, as his voice loud as it already was, was amplified by twice as much Naruto expected it to be. The villagers looked at each other, some rejoiced over the princess' death, some shed tears, but nearly all of them gathered around to see who would be stupid enough to challenge the demon.

--

(With Team Seven)

They heard the familiar voice shout out a challenge, it was hard not to. Sasuke and Sakura stopped in their tracks as their hearts were sent racing by the sudden uproar, also they were confused as to how much the guy sounded like Naruto.

The Naruto clone lost his concentration and was decapitated by a branch, poofing out of existence. The princess started to fall to the ground. The genins were going to go catch her, when Kakashi stopped them, his eye twitching.

The fake princess hit the ground and she too poofed out of existence.

"I'm going to kill him.", resonated three unified voices.

--

(With Naruto)

If Naruto had been paying attention, he would have noticed the clones memories return, but he wasn't. Rage was growing within him at an alarming rate. He WAS going to kick the demon's ass and make sure that he suffered through a world of pain.

As he saw the people assemble to confirm the princess' death, his anger flew out of control. **"How dare you people call yourselves the citizens of Waterfall, when you jump around in glee at the sight of you dead princess. She lived her entire life over-shadowed by her 'legitimate' sister, and when her only living relatives died, you blamed her for it? She suffered more than all of you bastards here combined and till the end lived for the sake of her precious people. Mind taking a guess who these 'precious people' were?"**, said Naruto in his demonic voice, waiting for an answer. None came, the citizens were too scared to reply.

"**It was you people. Despite how you treated her she lived her life, protecting and striving to recognized by YOU people. She died saving a citizen of this very city. The city which discriminated her for something that was entirely out of her hands. When I'm done beating this asshole"**, he pointed at the demon.

"**I'd better not find any of you in my sight, cuz I WILL destroy you too."**, said the blonde boy.

The citizens were shocked, some scared, some angered but most on the verge of tears, realizing how badly they had treated their princess.

With all this said, Naruto focused on the target which would be used as a source to alleviate all his grievances and rage.

The demon had heard the little boy challenge him and had started to laugh.

"_**HAHA, like a wimp like you could do anything to me, hah…."**_

He was cut short as Naruto, now coated in red by the Kyuubi chakra, had picked up the black bolt and launched it at the demon. The bolt had lodged itself in the demon's gum, as it had opened his mouth to laugh. It wasn't fatal, but it hurt like hell.

The demon picked the bolt out, and threw it aside, angered by the boy's insolence. He went to attack the boy, but didn't see him anywhere. Naruto now racing full force for the demon, shouted "**I'm here ape. Be grateful that you'll be the first to die by my new style, Tonfarin."**.

The demon now angered at the boy swung his blade. Naruto bent backwards as the blade passed over him, he had forgotten about the bolts that it shot out, every time the demon swung it. Sure enough, the long black bolts shot out. Thanks to his superior reflexes, Naruto managed to avoid a fatal injury, however it pierced his right thigh.

Not wanting to break speed, Naruto quickly pulled out the bolt, leaving behind scorching marks on his palm and his thigh both. Puddles of blood started to form under Naruto when he lingered for too long, seeping from his palms and his leg.

He jumped and landed on top of a stall, from where he used his tree climbing exercise to scale the wall of a house. He managed to reach the roof still intact, although breathing heavily. The demon spotted him and swung his blade yet again. Naruto was waiting for this to happen. As the blade approached him, he quickly jumped and stuck onto the bottom surface of the blade using chakra, disappearing from the demon's view. He held both kunai tightly, and held both hands backwards to streamline himself as he ran the length of the sword.

The black sword burnt the soles of his sandals, and slowly started to melt the material away. Half way through up the sword, his sandals were gone, having been completely melted by the blade. He was running barefoot, the smell of skin being burnt reached his nostrils. He finally made it to the sword's handle, his feet now a bloody mess.

He jumped onto the demon's hand and started scaling it. He bent down low, top half of his body parallel to the demon's skin and started to slash away, making small shallow cuts all over.

The demon noticed what was happening and laughed at the futile attempts.

"_**HAHA, shallow cuts like that couldn't kill me even if I left you to it for a hundred years."**_

Naruto smirked as he began to speak in his distorted voice. **"The tonfarin style had two main branches. The hand to hand combat and the weapon based one. The hand to hand combat is based on the principal that energy can be absorbed. A person absorbs energy from his opponent's attack and then releases it as his own, creating havoc.(Think Royal Guard, dmc) However the weapon based style is completely different. Tonfarin weapon users channel their chakra into their weapon, and with each cut they release some of it into their opponent's body. A small cut will rapidly keep deepening as long as the user keeps supplying enough chakra. This is ideal for me, as my chakra reserves are almost infinite."**

The demon saw the cuts growing in size, they were big enough for him to notice, and they are huge in number. His arm now looked like a maze. The demon laughed yet again.

"_**HA!, even though your cuts grow at a rapid pace, by the time they can reach far enough to draw blood, I'll have finished killing you."**_, snorted the demon.

Naruto looked at the cuts, and though they were certainly bigger, none had any signs of blood around it.

"**Hmm, I was hoping I didn't have to resort to this.", **said the demonic Naruto.

He finished scaling the demon's arm, and sat down on his shoulder.

The demon could have finished off Naruto, but his pride prevented him from doing so. The boy had already lost enough blood and soon would be dead. If that didn't kill him, the poison from his blade would.

Naruto spoke up again, **" You seem to be pretty confident in yourself demon. In that case I'll show you stage two. Stage two's basis lies in exploding seals. Instead of sealing up explosive chakra, explosive chakra is directly channeled into the opponent via the small cuts I talked about earlier. Masters of this stage can blow off limbs with a cut the size of a pin-prick."**

The demon's eye went wide in shock as he realized what was going to happen. He left the shield as it fell to the ground, and brought his now free hand to swat Naruto like a fly. Naruto saw this and quickly embedded his kunai in the demon's skin, raising his left hand up to absorb the impact.

The demon brought his hand down on the boy. Naruto kept his left hand up, absorbing the energy of the demon's attack. He used his other hand to grab the kunai, putting two fingers up, in the shape of a half ram seal.(he needs to be in contact with his weapon(s), to be able to control the chakra inside an opponent's body)

"Kai.", he said in a strained voice. The demon howled in pain as hundreds of blasts took place in his right hand, which was now bleeding profusely.

The demon roared with rage, then after calming down significantly spoke again.

"_**You were all talk boy, you couldn't blow off my arm even after you made so many cuts."**_

Naruto still being squeezed under the demon's arm, spoke in a pressured tone,

"**I… don't recall… saying… I.. had… mastered the stage. My purpose was… served."**

The demon tried moving his right hand, but to no avail. He had lost all feeling in the limb, and his sword feel down to the ground with a loud thud.

Naruto smiled, baring his fangs. With a surge of force, he pushed the shocked demon's hand upwards, and quickly began to rotate. He held one kunai pointed upwards, the other he pointed downwards, his arm stretched wide. He began to rotate faster and faster, whipping up a mini-tornado, unconsciously making use of his elemental alignment, that of wind.

His two kunai, and the sharpened wind around him cut the demon's hand in may places, small cuts that grew bigger as time passed.

The demon had had enough and encompassed the small blonde kid in the grip of his still functional hand.

Naruto saw the approaching demon's fist and quickly dropped the kunai in his left hand, smirking as he was caught.

"_**What's so funny?",**_ asked the demon.

"**Hehe, you'll see.",** replied Naruto.

Inside the demon's fist, Naruto held on tightly to the kunai in his right hand, if he let it go now, his plan could very well fail. He used his free left hand(he had dropped the kunai) and placed it against demon's skin. He closed his eyes and furrowed his brows. All the energy he had absorbed in his left hand, from the demon's previous attack, he focused on releasing it.

He opened his dark red, slitted eyes and smiled at the demon, a truly terrifying image. He released the explosive energy. BOOM! A huge explosion rocketed the sky, accompanied by the wailing of the demon. The explosion had severed the last two fingers in the demons hand, as they fell towards the earth. He had done himself a lot of damage too. If the Kyuubi wasn't rapidly healing the 'deranged and suicidal' boys injuries, as he stated, Naruto would have long since been dead.

Naruto's head lay at an awkward angle, resting on the demon's hand, still smiling at him eerily, fangs protruding out. The demon looked at the boy angrily, he seemed to be mocking him even in death. Tired of looking at the boy's face, he let go off his body. As Naruto fell towards the earth, his 'tail' (cuz, he's surrounded by the Kyuubi's cloak) shot upwards and buried deeply into the back of the man's hand. The demon, who apparently hadn't suffered enough for killing the princess, roared in pain yet again as the tail of pure concentrated chakra burrowed into his hand.

The momentum of the fall, slung-shot Naruto high into the air. The demon watched the boy, who refused to die. Naruto's hands shot up and pulled his head into place with loud cracking noises. He was still flying in the air, gaining height as his speed finally started to slow down. At the zenith of his jump his voice rang loud and clear.

"**Masters can blow off limbs with minute cuts, but I can't. Well, at least I can try."**, he said grinning at the demon. Then his face changed to a sorrowful one, as he quietly whispered, **"This is for you princess."**

"**Kai."**

The many cuts that had been formed on the demon's hand exploded sequentially, one after the other. His hand a completely bloody mess, separated from the wrist down, and fell to the earth, painting the nearby buildings red.

The demon had had it. He issued a warning to the boy,

"**I will not return to this city again, you have given me reason enough not too. However the next time I see you, I WILL kill you!",** and with that the demon disappeared with a crack, having uttered his fancy words for a retreat.

Naruto smiled as he faded into unconsciousness, still falling.

'**GET UP CHIBI! GET UP!!'**, screamed a distraught Kyuubi, not wanting to die in such a place. Although it didn't matter, he would still eventually die inside the cage.

'**AAAAAAAAAAH'**, roared the Kyuubi as he felt the boy plummet to certain death, then he stopped shouting suddenly as a thought hit him.

'**Hmm, I should not waste this opportunity given to me'**, Kyuubi chuckled sinisterly.

'**I should make sure that even in this situation I mock the Yondaime brat as much as possible!'**, concluded the clearly senile Kyuubi.

And with that thought in mind he continued to scream, albeit in an extremely high pitched feminine voice.

--

(With Kakashi)

After having heard Naruto declare his intentions of fight some demon, to the whole world, Kakashi was faced with a difficult decision: Whether or not, being charged with treason was worth murdering his own student.

"Cockatail, bubblegum head back towards Konoha.", said the man hurriedly.

"But we haven't finished our mission", stated Sakura.

"That doesn't matter anymore. I'm heading back for Waterfall and I'll handle the situation. However I have a gut instinct that things have already gone bad, you both should head back for Konoha immediately.", he explained.

"If you're going to Waterfall, then I'm not….", said Sasuke, but Kakashi was already gone.

"I guess we should head back.", said Sakura disappointedly, though inside she was celebrating as she had finally gotten Sasuke all to herself.

"'Hmph", replied Sasuke.

--

(With Kakashi)

Kakashi sped back towards Waterfall, not afraid to use his full speed. With the genins around, he had to limit his speed to half of what he was capable of, so that they wouldn't get lost.

But now, he felt free to set ablaze, the forest. He knew the way well, he had a good memory. Quickly avoiding the obstacles provided by nature, he continued toward his destination.

On the way he heard three more loud wailing noises, from a source he couldn't identify. He hoped it was the demon, Sanctum that the old man had mentioned.

Twenty minutes later he was back in Waterfall territory, what he saw amazed him. His student was flying sky high, while what looked like a giant twenty foot tall ape in front of cry in agony as his hand fell off.

He stood there, mouth open for some time before he realized the ape had disappeared, and his student was still falling straight towards the earth, with no signs of stopping himself.

He continued to watch the boy, waiting for him to show some signs of landing safely.

"…", another couple of seconds passed by, with inactivity on Naruto's part.

"Oh shit!", the jounin exclaimed as he realized his student was in trouble. He quickly uncovered his sharingan and sped towards the falling boy. Having his sharingan out, he could predict he wouldn't make it. So he did the only thing possible, he reached for his weapons pouch, flinging three kunai at speeds which only the elite amongst the ANBU could have matched.

--

(With Naruto)

'**AAAAAAAAAAAAAH'**, screamed 'Yondaime' in his ultra-high pitched voice.

The kunai came searing through the sky, making a sharp whizzing sound, as if cutting up the air around them itself. The first kunai pierced through the boy's jacket sleeve, pinning it to the wall. The second, pinned the body of the jacket and the third, the boys pants. The kunai struck with awe-inspiring accuracy, stopping the boy's fall, hanging him from the side of a building, inches away from the ground.

'**Wow'**, Kyuubi couldn't help but add.

Kakashi laid down the boy onto the ground, checking his vitals. He was still alive, and his wound were healing up fast. He sighed in relief, the boy managed to surprise him every single day. 'Did he just beat that twenty foot ape?'

(An hour later)

Naruto finally woke up to see Kakashi staring at him intently. 'Oh shit', the boy thought as he quickly shut his eyes again.

Kakashi stepped on the boy, forcing him to wake up, " I saw you already.", said the jounin.

Naruto woke up gingerly.

"Well?", asked the jounin.

"Don't worry I'm fine, just a bit hungry.", replied naruto.

"… I meant where's the princess?"

Naruto's facial expression changed immediately as he looked away.

'Great, all this time wasted', though Kakashi as he let out a deep sigh.

"Let's go clean this mess up", Kakashi stated as he headed towards the castle.

When they reached the castle, they saw a funeral procession taking place. The princess was being cremated, the entire village attending. They formed a circle around the tier and each and every single one of them shed their tears for their princess, having acknowledged her for who she was.

Naruto smiled at the sight, and released a content sigh. 'At least one of us managed to reach their goal', he thought.

Kakashi sighed, though for an entirely different reason. 'The Hokage's gonna kill me.', he though.

Kakashi stared at his student who had started walking back to the site where the battle had taken place. He followed the boy, they were going to exit from there anyway. Naruto walked towards the rubble as Kyuubi instructed him too.

'**Hurry up! Can't you hear it calling you?',** the Kyuubi said impatiently.

'Hear what?'

'**The sword! And the shield too! Annoying bastards won't shut up!',** growled Kyuubi.

'…'

'**I'm not going crazy dammit!'**

'Sure.'

Naruto did however walk up to the giant blade. He touched it with his finger at first. It didn't burn him anymore. He put his palm on it, as the giant sword shrunk down in size and fell by the boy's side.

Naruto picked it up and wondered what to do with it, when he heard a strange echoing voice.

'Yo! This is the sword speaking. Is this thing on? Can you hear me? Chibi boy? Chibi boy?'

'THE NAME'S NARUTO YOU RETARD!'

'Ah, alright then. Naruto go pick up my brother then.'

'Your brother..?'

'The shield.'

'Oh. Alright.'

He walked over to the shield and did the same, as it too shrunk down to a size Naruto could handle.

'_What took you so long fucking chibi!'_, said the more agitated, gruff voice

'Hehe chibi'

'**HAHA CHIBI!'**

Kakashi watched as his student beat the shield with the sword, cursing with each strike.

"Uh.. Naruto?" , the jounin asked hesitantly.

"MY NAME'S NARUTO! Oh… just gimme a minute sensei."

"…"

Naruto returned to the conversation inside.

'What's my name now huh?', the blonde asked, having pummeled the two brothers.

'_Naruto-sama'_

'Naruto-sama'

'**CHIBI! HAHA!'**

The fox was muted as Naruto spoke again.

'Right. So what exactly are you both?'

'We are weapons that take the shape our master desires. You are our new master, so choose what you want us to turn into. But remember you can choose only once, so make your decision carefully.', said one of the brothers.

Naruto allowed the Kyuubi to speak as he felt the fox's opinion was important for once.

'**CHIBI! HAHA'**

'GOD DAMN FOX, BE SERIOUS AND TELL ME WHAT WEAPON SUITS MY STYLE!'

The fox thought it over and replied.

'**Definitely tonfa, chi…'**

Kyuubi was silenced again as Naruto told the weapons to change into a pair of tonfa.

The weapons did so. They changed into a pair of pitch black tonfa. The one on the right had the upper half of the golden dragon drawn into it's features, twirling around the cylinder like weapon, giving it an exquisite look. The left hand one has the lower half of the golden dragon, twirling around in the same manner.

'So you both have a name?'

'Our names are difficult to pronounce, but together we are called Sanctum.'

Naruto felt rage fill up inside him as he heard the name of the beast responsible for the princess' death.

'Alright. I'll carry you around, but in return, neither of you are to ever speak again.', Naruto thought, finding it hard not to crack the damned weapon in two.

'…fine.', answered the more talkative brother.

'You're still talking.', Naruto said angrily.

After hearing no response for a minute, he nodded mentally.

'Alright.'

Kakashi watched his student stare blankly at the ground in front of him for a minute, before he decided to put an end to whatever it was the boy was doing. However, as he moved towards the boy, he saw the weapons change shape. They formed into a pair of tonfa. 'Ah, I was thinking of suggesting those to the boy. Guess I don't need to anymore.'

A minute later Naruto shrugged as he returned to reality. He looked for a place to keep the two tonfa, deciding to keep it in his bag.

'**Sanctum says you can seal the blades for faster access.'**, said Kyuubi.

'How?'

'**Turn over your left hand and look at the tattoo near the wrist.'**

Sure enough, there it was. Drawings, of two tonfa parallel to each other, handles facing outward, tattooed in black ink.

'That wasn't there before!'

'**Yeah, it's part of the whole weapon thing. Just use some of your blood and run it between the two, and you should be able to equip or store the weapon easily. Right, my job is done, I'm of to sleep. Later.'**

"Lazy fox", mumbled Naruto as he bit down on his thumb and ran the bloody index through the gap in the tattoo. The tonfa disappeared with a poof. Naruto smiled. 'That was awesome!', he thought to himself.

Kakashi saw the boy seal the weapons. 'I'm sure Naruto doesn't know how to seal. Must've been something related to those weapons.', he concluded.

"All right let's go", with that the two ninja head out.

--

( A day later)

Kakashi had carried Naruto, when he slept, to make up for lost time. They approached the main gates of Konoha, bright red the corners painted green. The two chuunin guards greeted both the arrivals, even Naruto. They knew about the fox but didn't care too much about it, the boy had won them over with his pranks and childish behavior.

They headed straight for the Hokage tower. They entered the structure and went straight for the Hokage's office. Kakashi knocked on the door and pushed it open as both Naruto and him entered. The rest of the team, namely Sasuke and Sakura were already there, showing how efficient security in the village was.

The Hokage greeted them with a smile, " Welcome Kakashi, Naruto. Where's the princess?"

"Dead.", was Kakashi's blunt answer.

Naruto looked away, still not over her death.

The people in the room all looked stunned. Sakura exploded at Naruto, " Naruto you dumbass! We leave the princess in you watch and now because of you she's dead!"

Naruto felt a pang of grief strike his heart. It was his fault the princess had died.

The Hokage saw Naruto's demeanor change.

Kakashi spoke up, "That's enough Sakura.", silencing the pink haired genin.

"Well how did this happen?", asked the Hokage.

Kakashi thought of how to frame his answer. He didn't want to put all the blame on Naruto, even though it was mostly his doing.

To his surprise however, Naruto stepped up.

"Hokage-sama, it was my fault that the princess was killed.", spoke Naruto, addressing the old man as Hokage-sama and not jii-san.

The Hokage spoke, "As much as it regrets me to say this, Naruto you may be placed under arrest or may have to pay an even greater fine, according to what the country of Waterfall decides."

Naruto nodded solemnly.

The other two genin looked slightly shocked.

A knock was heard on the door as a man walked in and placed a parcel on the Hokage's desk.

"It's from the royal family in Waterfall.", the Hokage said.

Team seven looked at the Hokage anxiously, wanting to know how severe the case was.

The Hokage read the letter out loud.

"Dear Hokage-sama,

We regret to inform you that your team failed to carry out the mission. Our beloved princess was killed a day ago. However, the team helped the country, pulling it out of it's strife and unifying it once again. Though the death of our princess is a great loss, we have the Konoha team to thank, especially the small blonde one, Ramen as I heard, who helped our people settle their disputes, and helped the princess achieve her dreams.

If it were not for the team, our people would have surely perished by now, and our princess heart broken. We thank you for your help.

Signed.

King Veda."

The team looked shocked.

Naruto, spirit returning shouted, "I'M NOT LITTLE! And Veda was made king?"

The occupants of the room grinned at the boy.

The Hokage spoke again, "Well, they've sent their payment, so here you all are." He handed each of them a small, yet heavy envelope.

"Congratulations on your first successful C-ranked mission", stated the Hokage.

The ninjas shuffled out of the room, happily.

"Naruto, stay back for a moment." The Hokage requested.

As the others left the room Naruto wondered what it was.

"There was more in the package, but I didn't want the others to feel jealous or under-appreciated.", said the Hokage.

He threw Naruto another envelope.

"Wow! A bonus?", the blonde said disbelievingly. There was something else in the envelope as well. Naruto fished around till he finally drew it out, what seemed to be a card.

"What's this jii-san?", he asked the older man.

"It's basically a VIP card. You can show this card to anyone in the country of Waterfall, and for a week, you will be provided free accommodation, food and stuff like that.", answered the Hokage.

"Awesome!", replied the blonde.

The Hokage chuckled, "You can leave now Naruto, drop by any time."

"Sure thing jii-san.", the blonde stated as he left the room, heading back home.

--

(Naruto's apartment)

Naruto jumped onto the luxury of his, not-so-safe bed as it creaked dangerously. He looked up at the rotting molds on the ceiling. It was good to be home.

'**Finally! Finaaally!'**, the Kyuubi repeated.

'What is it now?', inquired Naruto

'**Finally the day is here! You have enough money to buy yourself some new clothes!!'**, cheered Kyuubi.

'Fine, I guess I should, orange sticks out too much.'

--

(Random Konoha Street)

Naruto had bought himself a new set of clothes, however doing so had not been an easy task. He was hated passionately in most shops, so had to pick out his clothing while disguised with a henge.

He now wore a three quarter length pair of white cargo shorts, that reached up to his shins. Over which, he wore a baggy black coloured shirt. He had exchanged discarded his blue sandals, buying a pair of black ones. Kyuubi wanted Naruto to let his hair grow and told him not to wear his hitai-ate on his forehead as it made his hair spike up and look idiotic. However Naruto didn't care much about the fox's opinion. After much arguing, they came to a compromise. Naruto agreed to let his hair grow, but would not wear his hitai-ate anywhere besides his forehead. He was proud to be a ninja of Konoha and made sure that everyone knew it.

All in all, Naruto looked a lot more cooler. As he walked through the streets, he was still met by the same cold stares and hateful glances, but not by all. No, a small fraction of the crowd, mainly females, now viewed him in a slightly different light.

Kyuubi smirked inside his cage. He might finally get some tail.

'Well I have most of the day off now, lets go pay Shikamaru a visit.'

Kyuubi grunted in response, not fond of creatures smarter than him, especially if it were a human.

--

(Nara house rooftop)

Naruto climbed the stairs to the rooftop. The two boys were lying down, staring at the clouds, Shikamaru and Chouji.

"Yo! Don't you guys ever have missions?", said Naruto.

"Yo Naruto", sitting up he saw the change in Naruto's appearance. "Ah new clothes, finally."

Chouji nodded as well adding his own comments, "Yup, you look more of a ninja now."

Naruto smiled as he too lay down next to the boys, enjoying the view.

--

(Training ground seven)

Kakashi had apparently decided it was time to teach his students something. He called them to the training ground for an educational lesson.

Two hours of waiting later the jounin walked into view, reading his book.

The genin sighed tired of expecting the jounin to change his tardy habits.

"Ah you're all here I see.", the jounin said, casually waving at them.

"…", the three genin continued to stare at he man wordlessly.

"Okay. Today I'm going to teach you tree climbing!'

"Know it.", replied Naruto.

"Used my sharingan to learn it from a Waterfall ninja.", replied Sasuke.

"Oh.. well I guess that leaves you Sakura.", kakshi explained the concept to her and told her to try it out. After her first few attempts itself she managed to reach the top.

Naruto stared at his teammate disbelievingly, "It took me nearly a day to learn that!"

"That's because her chakra control is better than yours Naruto, and is probably the best in the group.", clarified Kakashi.

"Alright then. I'm going to tell you all what your weaknesses are so you may work on them."

"First Sakura, your weakness is taijutsu and ninjutsu. Due to your good chakra control it will be easy for you to pursue a medical career or one as a genjutsu specialist. I recommend that you improve your strength through physical training.

Sasuke, your weakness lies in genjutsu. I recommend that you learn to further advance your chakra control and also undergo physical training to increase your chakra pools, as the sharingan will drain you of your chakra quickly.

Naruto, your weakness lies in chakra control, mostly due to your large chakra amounts, and genjutsu. I recommend you to focus on ninjutsu and on chakra control excercises.

Well that's all for today, work on your weaknesses. Later.", finished Kakashi, effectively analyzing each one of them, and with a puff of smoke, disappeared.

--

(Konoha Forest Clearing)

A hundred Naruto clones practiced the water walk technique.

Yet another hundred carried out physical exercises.

'What do I do now?'

'**Gimme a second. '**, Kyuubi replied as if searching for something.

'**Ah, I see you posses the elemental affinity for wind.'**, he said after a couple of minutes.

'Elemental affinity?'

'**Yeah every ninja has elemental affinities. Most have two, and higher level jounin and ANBU even have three. These elemental affinities determine which type of ninjutsu would suit you best. For example someone with the affinity for water would have powerful water relates techniques.'**

'Alright I get the gist of it, but why do I only have one!'

'**I guess it's just bad luck.'**, however Kyuubi knew that was not the case. It was common for ninja's to have two elemental affinities, and rare for them to have three. However to have only one was the rarest of them all. As the person's potential wasn't split up, it was all focused on one element, his or her techniques tended to be abnormally strong. A fine example of such was the Yondaime, who had a single affinity as well.

'**Right, your next task is to assign another hundred clones to gather a leaf each and try to cut it using your wind affinity. Just focus on the wind around you and try to manipulate it into millions of tiny blades that press up against each other, creating finer, sharper blades. Then use that to cut the leaf.'**, instructed Kyuubi.

Naruto created another batch of clones as he got to work..

--

(A week later)

Naruto stood panting in the forest, he had mastered cutting the leaf and could do it without a second thought. However, manipulating the elemental chakra was proving to be a difficult task.

Most of the week had gone by carrying out D-ranked missions, most of which involved the capture of tora the cat. Though grueling work, Naruto's evasion and trap-setting skills had significantly risen. His other exercises helped a lot as well. His chakra control was almost as good as Sakura's and his stamina had increased by leaps and bounds, not that he needed it.

The blonde boy sighed yet again as he could not manage to control the wild chakra.

'**You better find someone else who has a wind affinity.'**

'Alright', replied the boy as he headed back towards the village.

(An hour later)

Still not having been able to find his sensei, Naruto decided to take a quick break. He decided to head towards the Nara mansion, as he was too tired to walk by home.

A short walk later, he was standing in front of the lazy boy's house. He climbed upto the roof, and saw both the usual suspects lazing around.

"Seriously, do you guys ever work?"

"When we have to.", replied Chouji.

"Not willingly.", added Shikamaru.

"Ah. I've had a horrible day can't find anyone with wind natured chakra. Do any of you guys have wind natured chakra?", asked Naruto.

"Don't think I do, not sure about what chakra affinity I have.", replied Chouji indifferently.

"Elemental chakra? Seems like something new with you, every time you visit. And, no, my chakra affinity has something to do with shadows or something. Although Asuma-sensei has a wind affinity.", replied Shikamaru.

"Alright! Let's go see him.", replied Naruto happier than before.

"Meh. I guess we can, we were supposed to meet him ten minutes ago anyway.", replied Shikamaru, slowly getting up.

Naruto sweat-dropped at the boy's statement.

--

(Asuma's doujo. (I don't know exactly what his house is. But whenever him and Shikamaru met, it seemed like a doujo to me.) )

"How to manipulate wind chakra? Well you've come to the right person", said Asuma.

"Yosha! So tell me how to do it!"

"Alright, I'll show you a practical use first, to help explain."

Naruto nodded.

"Okay hold up your hand", said Asuma.

Naruto held up his right hand. Asuma took out his knives as he pointed the blade at Naruto's palm.

Asuma slowed his breathing as he seemed to be doing something. Naruto impatient for the man to show him whatever it was, was about to speak up when a small prick on his palm drew blood. He saw Asuma move the blade down slightly, and felt the skin on his palm get cut slightly in the same direction.

"Wow! How did you do that!", asked the excited Naruto.

"I used the wind based chakra and formed it in the shape of a blade around my knives. This helps increase my range, however the longer my blade gets, the more difficult it is to control it, and the duller it gets as well.", answered the man.

He took out a cigarette and lighted it as Shikamaru 'tched' from his sitting position behind the man.

Asuma continued his explanation, "It's easier to form the wind chakra around a solid material at first. Later on as you master it completely you can create manipulate the wind around you, changing it into shapes and sizes you choose, however that requires the utmost level of mastery, something even I haven't achieved. And remember a blade made of wind, is combined with many smaller blades, if you try to manipulate it with a single large blade in mind, it won't work. Think of thousands, the bigger the number the better, of blades combining to form a blade, sharp from every angle."

"Alright.", nodded Naruto slowly, taking in all the information.

"Thanks Asuma-sensei. Ja ne, Shikamaru, Chouji.", and with that the blonde raced off back to his clones, back to train with renewed vigor.

"So why did you call?", asked Shikamaru.

"We have a D-rank mission, it's that cat again.", said Asuma calmly.

"Meh. I'll catch it with my shadow bind and you crush it Chouji, or better yet, just eat it, get rid of all the evidence.", stated the raven haired boy simply.

"Olay!", replied Chouji, showing his teammate a thumbs up sign.

Asuma sweat dropped, not sure if they were serious.

--

(Konoha forest clearing)

Naruto passed on his knowledge to all the clone. He too took out his kunai and started to focus on making a blade around it.

'Kyuubi why can't we start training with the tonfa yet?', the boy asked, eager to get a feel of his new weapon.

'**It's not time yet. Let me tell you something about the weapon as I learned from the brothers. It has three stages, or in other words, three features to it. The first stage, is called Alpha. It's a stage which allows the weapon to absorb elemental chakra, and use it like Asuma's trench knives. I don't know about the other two stages, apparently you'll understand when you unlock it. Anyway, if you can master you elemental control, you can use the first stage.'**

'But what good will it do emitting my chakra into the tonfa? They're completely blunt.'

'**That's why it'll be so effective. The chakra will give the tonfa an edge, i.e. it'll make them sharper, able to cut. Plus it'll increase your range as well'**

'Oh! Awesome!', said the boy as he reverted to focusing on his training.

--

(Two days later)

Naruto had managed to manipulate the wind into a blade around his kunai, however it wasn't perfect. The blade could be clearly seen as a distortion in the air, but he'd work on that later. Right now he was heading towards training ground seven, where Kakashi had called a meeting two hours ago.

Naruto, wise enough not to arrive early, had continued to train, and two hours after the designated time had reached his destination.

Naruto smiled as he saw his other two teammates leisurely walk in after him, having had the same epiphany.

Kakashi appeared in a plume of smoke as he smiled at his genin. "Yo! Sorry for being late."

The genins didn't shout at him like they usually would have, especially Sakura. However that wasn't important, Kakashi thought to himself, as he began to speak.

"I called you here to inform you all about the upcoming chuunin exams. You are all allowed to take it, to determine whether or not you are suitable to be promoted. They are a month from now. I was not supposed to tell you until a day or so before the exams. However I am telling you this because I trust you enough as a team!", said Kakashi.

Naruto and Sasuke both felt pride at their achievements.

Sakura however, had a tick developing above her right eyebrow.

"LIAR! YOU'RE TELLING US THIS BECAUSE IT HAPPENED TO SLIP OUT FROM YOU MOUTH WHEN YOU WERE TALKING TO ME YESTERDAY!", shouted Sakura.

Naruto and Sasuke both sweat dropped, not sure if the man in front of them was really worthy of his position.

"Hehe, yeah that too. I'll leave you to it then. Ja ne!", said the man before he quickly took off.

--

(Women's bath-house)

Naruto was walking back towards his training site, when he saw a man, with long white hair that ran the length of his back in a single ponytail, stare through a hole in the women's bath-house.

"…uh, can I help you?", Naruto asked the man.

The man turned around as he stared at the boy. "No. Go away. Shoo"

Naruto's left eyebrow twitched as he spoke again, "What the hell you perverted old man!"

The man looked at the boy. He suddenly jumped onto one foot as he began to hop around shouting his introduction, "Do you know who I am! I am the great per—no, the great toad hermit Jiraiya of…", he was cut off however as he tripped on his own ponytail, as he front flipped onto his face.

"…I'll act like I didn't see that. Ja ne pervert.", said Naruto.

"Oi! Wait up! Don't you know that I am the great Jiraiya! One of the three legendary sannin!", said Jiraiya.

"What's a sannin?"

"Haha, I'll explain it to you over lunch, your treat!", said the man as he edged Naruto on, not giving him a chance to argue.

--

(Ichiraku Ramen Stand)

Teuchi, the stand owner served both of them a helping of ramen and a cup of sake for Jiraiya. "Eat up Naruto. Glad to have you back in town Jiraiya-sama."

Jiraiya nodded at the man. Naruto was confused at who the man was.

"So what's a sannin?", Naruto asked the man, having finished his first bowl already.

"A sannin's a legendary ninja of the village of course! There are only three currently, out of which I happen to be one!"

"You don't look like it..", said Naruto.

"Well I am! Believe it or not kid.", said the man as he dug into his own helping of ramen.

Seven ramen bowls later(on Naruto's part), Naruto looked up at the man again.

"Hmm, since you are a legendary ninja will you teach me some cool new jutsus?", Naruto asked.

"Why would I want to teach a brat like you, I have more research to do after all!", said Jiraiya.

"Well, you're looking at the future Hokage of the village old man!", said Naruto.

"Ha! The day a chibi like you becomes Hokage, will be the day Orochimaru takes a wife.", snorted the hermit.

"I'M NOT A CHIBI DAMMIT! And also, who's Orochimaru?", asked Naruto.

"Never mind.", said Jiraiya. "I'll make you a deal kid. If you can catch me within an hour I'll train you. You can use you weapons, even those tonfa you have sealed up.", said the man still looking at the glass of sake in his hand as he downed it in one sip.

Naruto was slightly suspicious, "How do you know about that?"

Jiraiya laughed at the boy, "I'm the leader of an international spy network kid. That was a nice fight you had with Sanctum. If you do somehow manage to pass, we might meet him again. He's grown both his arms back again."

Naruto looked suspiciously at the man then nodded. "Alright gimme a minute."

Jiraiya nodded and headed out of the stand looking at the cloudless blue sky.

Naruto quickly paid up and arranged his hand in the shape of a cross ram seal as a clone popped into existence. The clone transformed into a fly and landed on Naruto's shoulder.

Jiraiya turned around as the boy walked out of the stand.

"Alright let's start, I'll give you a head start old man", said Naruto.

"How kind of you.", said Jiraiya mockingly.

"Let's seal this with a handshake.", stated Naruto.

Jiraiya nodded as he shook the boy's hand. The fly quietly flew over and perched onto Jiraiya's sleeve.

Naruto smirked slightly, "Yosh! Consider yourself beaten!", said the boy.

Jiraiya laughed at the boy, as he brought his hand up and crushed the fly on his sleeve. "Sorry kid no cheating."

The older bit his thumb and placed it on the ground as he shouted out "Kuchiyose no jutsu!"(summoning technique).

A huge frog, as big as Naruto appeared, dark blue in colour. It had huge hind legs. Naruto gaped at the frog. Jiraiya got onto it's back and lay down on it, staring at the sky. "See you kid. Let's go Gamaki-kun."

"Yes sir!", replied 'Gamaki'. The frog crouched, it's legs tensing and suddenly took a huge leap, soaring around twenty feet into the air, leaving behind a cloud of dust.

Naruto was left wide-eyed, open-mouthed as he saw the frog land a huge distance away. Was that a frog? Did it just talk? What the hell was up with that jump!! Some of the many questions that circled his head.

"Damn! I need to catch that pervy-sage no matter what!", said Naruto to himself as he created a couple dozens of clones. "GO!", he shouted as all of them took off.

--

Phew! Done with chapter four! Hope I managed to cross the 20,000 mark.

Yeah, so I went to see Dark Knight today ( You might as well skip to the next chapter here, what follows next is worthless chit-chat. :P). Well in two words.. fucking awesome! (am I allowed to say fuck? Cuz I noe I've used it before and also fuck is a bad word. And though the rating is mature, fuck might still be considered a bad word. I mean if I was writing in adult fanfiction maybe, I could say fuck more often. Don't start judging me and make your assumptions, I'm not a big swearer, I do use fuck, quite a fucking lot but I'm not addicted to it. I'm not allowed to say fuck at home. So tell me if i'm not allowed to say fuck, cuz I don't want to break the fucking rules. Enjoy the rest of my fucking psycho-babble.) Back to the movie review. The movie OWNED! I know that Heith Ledger gained most of his popularity because he died shortly after making the film, or so I thought, but believe me its not! His acting was brilliant! And the way batman fought, amazing! In short, it's an amazing film, maybe not the greatest film in the world as most say, but I loved it, best batman, nay, best superhero film ever! (and im more of a spidey fan, well not anymore) Oh and I loved batman's voice in the film. (And yes, I'm a guy. Hetero as well.)

So anyway please read and review, I really need new sources of inspiration and new ideas for the story, although I do have another arc or two planned out(by which I mean, I thought it up while I was on the toilet, wishing I could fall asleep and finish my morning business at the same time. But you didn't need to know that, .. I'm sorry.)

Enjoy the fanfic, and enjoy the rest of your day, go watch Dark Knight now!


	5. Chapter 5 : Beginnings of Change

Chapter Five – Beginnings of Change

Please read and review, thanks.

Disclaimer- Don't own Naruto or any other anime/games/manga mentioned in the chapter or story.

Oh I got my very first reviewer yesterday! Mirror of a cloudy sea is his name. Thanks for your opinion mate . I'm not sure if he was appreciating my work or dissing my attempt at a fanfic though… either way, thanks. You know as they say, rather a flamer than none at all.

Oh and I just crossed 20,000! Ya-ha! Oh and I suggest you listen to New Born by the band Muse. Good song, helped me write my last chapter.

Enjoy!

Key-

"Normal Talking"

'Thinking/Mindscape talking'

'**Kyuubi Talking'**

"_Summon Talking"_

(Announcements concerning place and time changes. Also author ramblings)

--

(Random Konoha Street)

'Dammit, I can't find that hermit!', thought Naruto, frustrated.

Thirty minutes into the chase, Naruto was severely exhausted. He had come close to catching the white haired man twice already, but the frog had noticed him and immediately escaped, carrying its master to safety.

His clones had spread out through the entire city, having disguised themselves as random animals and inanimate objects.

Jiraiya sat up straight on his summon. Having just been ambushed by a group of Naruto clones, he didn't have time to relax. The boy was a formidable annoyance. He had nearly been caught twice and was slowly growing a bit tense. He didn't want to be stuck training a genin brat. No, it didn't lie under his job description. He had to quickly discard his thoughts as a kunai whizzed by in front of him, narrowly avoiding him. "Step on it Gamaki."

The frog nodded his agreement as he took another mighty leap. As they landed a fair distance from the clones that had rang up another ambush, Jiraiya quickly dispelled his summon. It was an easy target, and he didn't want to be accidently caught. No, he was determined not to spend his free time training a brat.

He walked through the streets, nodding at random people that recognized him. He saw a black coloured cat walk by him, golden bell around its neck.

"Ah tora old pal…", said the sannin.

The cat looked up as it heard its name being called.

"We've had some good times. Isn't that right my feline friend?", Jiraiya pondered over his memories, remembering all the D-ranked missions that had involved chasing the cat.

"On second thought, why are you still alive?", said the man, changing his tone.

"Ah well, I'm on the way to the Hokage, might as well make some genin's life easier", he said picking the cat up. The cat ran up to his shoulders and settled down.

Jiraiya was about to head for the Hokage tour, when he heard a poof and felt the weight on his shoulders get heavier. 'Shit!'

He turned around, his worst fear confirmed. There sat the blonde genin on top of his shoulders. "Caught ya, you pervy-sage!", he said excited.

"Well.. I guess a deal's… a deal.", said the man sadly.

--

(Hokage tower)

Jiraiya sat in one of the chairs facing the old man's desk.

"It's been a long time Jiraiya. How have you been?", asked the Hokage.

"Well life's been alright I guess. I'm almost done with my latest installment of the icha icha paradise collection.", he replied.

"I see…", said the old man, cleaning the small trickle of blood that had emerged from his nose.

"Besides that, how have things been going with you?", said the Hokage in a more serious tone.

Jiraiya understood what the question meant, "I've been hearing rumors about massive movements by the oto-nin.",(sound nin) replied Jiraiya.

The Hokage took a deep puff from his pipe, "Orochimaru", he sighed.

"Yeah, I think you should postpone the chuunin exams", advised Jiraiya.

"No, succumbing to any threat posed isn't how Konoha operates. Besides I've had a bad feeling about this for some time now. Seems its time Konoha saw some new blood.", said the Hokage.

"Hokage-sama?", asked Jiraiya.

"Yes Jiraiya, I wanted to ask if you were willing to take up the Hokage position in my stead."

"No.", replied Jiraiya bluntly. Konoha was a place that bore too many painful memories for him, which is why he had opted to take charge of the spy network. It ensured that he wouldn't have to stay in any place for more than a week at most.

"I thought so. In that case, can I issue you a mission?", asked the Hokage.

"I am still under your jurisdiction gramps, so what's with all the formality?", the man had changed his tone completely as he had felt the ANBU guards leave the room.

"Sharp as ever I see. Well then, this might be the last mission I assign to you, if the worst does come to pass. I want you to track down Tsunade. She will be the next Hokage. Make sure she agrees, I would not want to leave the village in the hands of Danzo."

"Khe, what are you talking about you old monkey, you're going to live forever. But yes I'll make sure Tsunade gives you a visit.", said Jiraiya.

The Hokage smiled at his student, "So have you decided on any worthy heir yet Jiraiya?"

Jiraiya snorted, "After having that bastard as my pupil", he pointed at the Yondaime's portrait, "no one even comes close. All the talented ninja seem to die prematurely."

"Although I'll be taking that blonde kid, Naruto, under my wing for some time. The kid has potential, if he could learn to harness the Kyuubi's chakra, he could very well shake the foundations of this decaying shinobi world.", added Jiraiya.

"I don't think you should be messing around with the seal Jiraiya. You might undo what Minato sacrificed himself to achieve.", said the Hokage wearily.

"Don't worry about it. Who do you think thought him about sealing in the first place?", replied Jiraiya.

"All right then. I'll inform Kakashi about this. Report about the boy's progress as soon as you can.", said the Hokage.

"Yeah I'll give you a report in two weeks time. I should've determined whether or not the boy is worth my effort." And with that the toad hermit left the Hokage's office.

--

( Konoha main gates )

Naruto was getting impatient. He'd been standing here for ten minutes now and still, no sign of Jiraiya anywhere. His bag was packed. Kunai, shuriken all safely being carried in his pouch.

He had packed his supplies(ramen) and was ready for a month long training programme. He gave a huge grin as he saw his new teacher walk up to him.

"Alright then kid. Lets head out."

"Alright! What are you gonna teach me first? Are you going to teach some awesome move, that'll be able to blow away a whole village at once?!", the boy asked excitedly.

"Don't get too excited kid, even I ain't that strong. What I'm going to teach you is summoning and basic chakra control. I'll give you an evaluation in two weeks time. If you manage to pass, I'll continue to train you. Otherwise you'll be returning back to Konoha real soon."

"Don't worry! I'll master anything you throw at me in less than a week.", said the blonde boy.

"Haha, we'll see.", replied Jiraiya, as both teacher and pupil exited Konoha.

--

(Two days later)

After days of travelling Jiraiya and Naruto had arrived at their first destination among many to come.

They stood in front of a gate that led to the capital city of Waterfall. The guards looked at them questioningly.

"Who are you? What business do you have here?", asked one of the guards.

"You don't know who I am? I am the great Jiraiya-sama….", started the white haired sannin.

"Oh! Welcome back to Waterfall Ramen-sama", the guard said, cutting Jiraiya's introduction short. Naruto had taken out his access card and shown it to the guard.

Jiraiya looked slightly crestfallen as they were ushered in and pointed towards the nearest five-star hotel.

"An access card eh? I used to have one of those. As the leader of the spy network, I was given one for each of the five great shinobi nations, even Waterfall, which is until they were confiscated.", said the older man.

"Why were they confiscated?", asked Naruto curiously.

"I can't remember. Something to do with excessive alcoholism, no wait, that was for Suna.(desert) There was one for peeking, hmm, though I think that was in Iwa. Ah yes, I remember now. The one for Waterfall was due to molestation charges.", said Jiraiya.

Naruto sweat dropped, not sure if choosing this man as his tutor was a wise decidion on his part.

"Alright, moving on, why are we here?", asked Naruto.

"Well firstly, we have to stay somewhere and refresh ourselves for the next leg of our journey. Secondly, we are here to meet up with one of my informants, make sure his mind is in the right place…"

"Why!", demanded Naruto in a loud voice, interrupting the man. "Isn't Waterfall our ally? Why do we need to spy on them?", he continued, getting worked up.

"Stop acting like such a kid!", Jiraiya reprimanded the boy. "You're a ninja, you of all should know how little treaties, decrees and promises mean in the ninja world."

Naruto opened his mouth, but no words came out. He knew what the man meant, his own village people of Konoha had been breaking the Sandaime's laws by openly calling him a demon every opportunity they could.

"So.. you know then? About this?", said Naruto sadly, clutching at his stomach.

"Pfft. Know about it? I was there when the Yondaime sealed it into you. He was my pupil after all. I tried to stop him, but the brat was too good with his barriers and what not.", stated Jiraiya simply.

"You.. you taught the Yondaime?"

"Yeah, I did.", said Jiraiya.

"Aw..Awesome!", said Naruto even more pumped up about his training.

--

(Later that evening)

After having checked in, they left their luggage in the room and had headed towards an abandoned training ground.

"Alright, lets begin with your summons. Here's the frog contract, sign it with your blood.", said Jiraiya throwing Naruto a scroll, which unfurled on the ground in front of him.

Naruto read the names on the scroll, there were only four. He couldn't read the first one, it was too smudged to. The second name on the scroll said Benito Kensei. He continued reading, the third name on it simply said Jiraiya, and the final name, Minato Namikaze.

'The Yondaime', thought Naruto in awe.

'**The Yondaime!'**, said Kyuubi, in a lightly different tone.

Naruto quickly bit his thumb, drawing blood. He carefully wrote his name in the empty space next to the Yondaime's. Uzumaki Naruto.

Jiraiya picked up the scroll as he instructed Naruto on what to do next.

"Alright now, focus on your chakra and call it out. Then make this seal", Jiraiya showed him the seal. "Then bite down on your thumb and call out Kuchiyose no jutsu."

Naruto nodded. It was simple enough. He made the seal and bit his thumb, "Kuchiyose no jutsu", he shouted out.

After the smoke had disappeared, there lay a small mutated tadpole, writhing in agony.

Jiraiya looked at the boy, "What the fuck was that…"

"I'm trying! But it isn't working!", shouted Naruto.

"Just focus on the picture of a frog for starters and then repeat the process."

Naruto nodded, as he set to work, creating a bunch of clones to do the same.

Jiraiya had taken out his telescope and was looking at a bunch of women in their bathing suits, frolicking at the base of a waterfall nearby.

(Five hours later, night time)

Jiraiya shut his telescope and turned around to find Naruto panting, lying face down in the ground. 'Good, with the amount of chakra he's been giving out for the summoning, he should be completely drained by now', Jiraiya thought to himself.

'Which means, with no where to turn, he'll unconsciously pull out the fox's chakra. This should help him with his summoning and also may make it easier to use the demonic chakra later on.', he continued to himself.

"Alright Naruto, I have a feeling this time you'll be able to do it, so give it a try."

Naruto got up slowly and nodded, "Alright."

He made the seals, bit his thumb and once again called out, "Kuchiyose no jutsu!"

Red chakra surrounded the boys palm and was gone as fast as it appeared.

There was a huge noise as the earth shook and a large cloud of smoke enveloped the area.

'OH SHIT!', thought Jiraiya, 'NO! WHY HIM!', he thought as he quietly made his escape.

There in front of Naruto stood a huge red toad. It's skin shined as the moonlight reflected off it. It wore a blue sleeveless jacket, surrounded by white lining. On its back, in a white circle, the kanji for 'Oil' stood out prominently. He had a small dagger strapped onto his back. It didn't look very small to Naruto.

It had a huge pipe stuck to its mouth, and when the gigantic creature opened its mouth to speak, Naruto could see a line of pearls, pierced into its tongue.

"_WHO SUMMONED ME HERE! IS IT YOU JIRAIYA? I STILL HAVE TO PAY YOU BACK FOR LETTING THAT STUDENT OF YOURS SUMMON ME!"_

Jiraiya flinched a bit in his hiding place, knowing that the frog was talking about Minato.

Naruto decided it was time to speak up, "Down here frog! I'm the one who summoned you! Your next master, Uzumaki Naruto!"

"_I ANSWER TO NO MAN YOU LITTLE BRAT. I EAT LITTLE HUMANS LIKE YOU AS APPETIZERS!"_, said the frog.

"Well you will answer to me from now on! So you better get used to it!", replied Naruto, slightly angry at the frog's attitude.

Jiraiya shook his head, 'He has no idea what he's in for'

The frog laughed a mighty laugh as it spoke again.

"_I like you little kid, but I'm going to have to teach you your place in this world! I am Gamabunta! King of the frog summons!"_, said Gamabunta in a slightly lower, yet still loud voice.

Naruto barely had time to respond as the frog swiped at Naruto with its webbed claw.

Naruto jumped back, as the claw tore through his shirt and opened up a diagonal cut on his chest. Blood started to flow out through the wound, making it hard for Naruto to breathe.

'KYUUBI!'

'**Yeah, yeah, I'm on it.'**, said Kyuubi as the cut started to close and the flow of blood slowed down till it came to a complete stop.

Naruto could breathe again, but had no time to rejoice. Another claw came rushing down towards him. He quickly rolled to the side evading the giant limb.

'He's trying to kill me! Isn't he my summon?'

'**Certain summons, especially high leveled ones, like the boss, can often choose not to obey their master. However on the plus side, if you can earn his respect, none of the other frogs will disobey you.'**, answered Kyuubi.

'So you're saying I should fight him?'

'**Either that or you could just be content summoning tadpoles for the rest of your life.'**, said Kyuubi, hoping the boy would take the tadpole option.

'Alright, a fight it is then.'

The Kyuubi sighed as he saw the boy unseal the tonfa.

'**You haven't tried using those yet chibi. I would advise you to stick to kunai.'**

'Hehe don't worry, I have a feeling this will work out well.', said Naruto confidently.

Naruto had equipped his tonfa, holding them pressed to his skin.

"GET READY FOR AN ASS KICKING YOU OVERGROWN TOAD!", shouted Naruto.

Gamabunta snorted as he saw the boy take out his weapon.

Naruto smiled as he started to move his fingers, twirling the tonfa (you should google tonfa, to see what they look like if you don't already know. They're pretty cool weapons, and masters can easily twirl them.) The tonfa spun once, spun twice and shot out of Naruto's hands as they landed on the floor with a dull thud.

'…**this is the good feeling you were talking about earlier?'**, asked Kyuubi sarcastically.

'Oh shit! I'm screwed!', stated Naruto.

Gamabunta, not impressed with the boys negligent attitude, quickly brought down his claw yet again.

Naruto back flipped, barely managing to dodge.

'**Do something!'**, shouted the fox inside him.

Naruto evaded another couple of strikes from the frog. He was getting tired, having used most of his chakra to summon the creature.

Gamabunta was getting tired of playing this game of cat and mouse with the boy, he sopped his attacks as he reached for the dagger behind him.

"_It's a pity you're going to die so young._", said the frog.

Naruto looked up in shock as he saw the frog holding his giant blade. He was to pre-occupied to see the frog move his other hand.

Gamabunta saw the dazed expression on the boy's face and decided to play around with him a bit more. He brought down his free hand towards the boy, with surprisingly high speed for such a giant creature.

Naruto saw the hand approach him from his peripherals. He knew it was too late to dodge the attack. He did the only thing he could thing of, as he brought his right hand up, to absorb the energy of impact.

Gamabunta, felt his hand make contact, as he crushed the boy against a tree.

"_Oops, I think I killed him"_, said the frog.

Jiraiya grimaced, as he quietly bowed his head, muttering a few words for the deceased. 'Ah well there goes one of my problems', he thought to himself, as he headed back towards the village. However, he was stopped by the boy's voice, who still seemed to be alive.

Gamabunta, who had started to walk away, turned around as he heard the boy's voice.

Naruto stood there trembling as he was crushed against the tree. He could feel his spine crack slightly. His right hand, was still held up, definitely fractured. A bone had cracked in half, as it pierced his flesh and stuck out at an odd angle.

Each word Naruto spoke, was forced, filled with pain.

"Ha! Is that all you can do? Stupid frog. You're looking at the next Hokage. You'd better make sure you finish the job, if you don't want your legs, to end up on someone's dinner plate!"

Gamabunta frowned slightly angered at the boy.

"_Haha. At least you speak big enough for a Hokage. Fine, let's make this ending grand! I'll make sure you die with this attack."_ The giant frog unsheathed his blade again, he held it up high, swinging it down towards the boy's head.

Naruto slowly moved his right hand, picking out a kunai from his pouch.

'**Naruto, what are you doing?'**, asked Kyuubi, oddly calm.

'I'm going to combine the melee and weapon styles of the Tonfarin. It's most probably my only chance to survive this. So I need you to help me out a bit Kyuubi. Gimme your chakra. I already have quite a lot of energy stored up from the frog's previous attack. I need your help to make sure I can finish this.'

'**Fine. And it was nice knowing you chibi.'**, said Kyuubi.

'Heh. I'm not going to die before I become Hokage. ..but yeah, thanks for all the help baka-kitsune.'

Naruto lifted up his kunai, his right hand was still shaking, unstable due to the broken bones. He steadied it as he saw the frog take out it's own blade.

"Be pre**pared to die you stupid frog."**, said Naruto as the familiar embrace of Kyuubi's chakra enveloped him. His eyes turning narrower, pupils turning into small slits as the rest of it changed from blue to crimson.

The sword came down straight for Naruto's kunai. A loud clashing sound of metal on metal was heard. Naruto held onto his kunai with both his hands, as he slowly channeled energy into the blade. Cracks began to form on the weapon.

'**The kunai can't endure this. I'm going to pump as much chakra as your arm can take. Release the energy as fast as you can, or it'll most probably blow up the kunai and your right arm along with it.'**, warned Kyuubi.

'Okay.', said Naruto, under too much pressure to say anything more.

He felt the energy in his arm increase drastically.

He felt the birth of a new technique at hand, and felt it was appropriate to name it.

"**Tonfarin Mixed Arts: Oblivion!"**, shouted the boy, ad he released all the pent up energy in his hand.

A huge explosion shook the ground and violently uprooted the trees near the boy. A huge wave of white-ish blue energy, accompanied by the red chakra of the Kyuubi burst out of kunai's edge. Gamabunta was lifted off the ground and thrown back, as his blade cracked and then fell to the ground in two pieces.

A slash ran horizontally across the frog's forehead, bleeding slightly.

Naruto felt darkness at the corner of his vision as it slowly engulfed him. He fell to the ground unconscious. In his right hand he held the handle of the kunai, the only part left intact.

Gamabunta slowly got back up. He looked at his blade and sighed, he'd have to get it fixed again. 'I should stop challenging these summoners.', he thought to himself. The last person he had challenged was the Yondaime, who had kicked the frog's ass within a matter of seconds, completely uninjured. He hadn't been able to use his right eye since.

He smiled at the boy.

Jiraiya was shocked at what had just happened. 'The kid injured Gamabunta?'

'Like father, like son I guess.' Unclipping the summoning contract from behind his back, he attached it to a kunai and threw it towards the battle site.

Gamabunta heard a slight whizzing sound as a kunai embedded itself into the tree above Naruto's head. It had a scroll attached, which rolled open, stopping short over the unconscious boy's head.

Gamabunta narrowed his eye, 'Jiraiya', he thought to himself.

"_I don't need to look at that to tell he summoned me."_, said the proud frog.

He looked at the scroll, at the last column, containing the boy's name.

"_Uzumaki Naruto. You have great things ahead of you boy. I recognize you as a new member of the frog summoning agreement. My clan shall follow you orders."_, the frog said to the boy and with a large puff of smoke, he was gone.

Jiraiya walked up to the boy, and picked him up, heading back towards the hotel.

--

(A day later, hotel room)

Naruto woke up as he shouted, "BACK OFF!", looking around he saw no signs of the frog.

"Ah welcome back.", said Jiraiya walking into the room.

"What happened?", asked the boy.

"You managed to earn Gamabunta's trust. You can summon any of the frogs now. I saw the fight from beginning to end, I knew you'd beat him.", lied the man.

"Thanks.", said Naruto grinning at the man.

"No problem. Anyway, I've decided to train you. You don't need to go through with the evaluation."

"Awesome!", yelled Naruto.

"Get ready, we're going to meet my spy and then head to the next village."

Naruto nodded as he rushed into the bathroom, to change his clothes.

Jiraiya quietly summoned a small frog. He attached a scroll onto it's back and instructed it on what to do with it.

--

(Hokage's office, Konoha)

The small frog appeared with a poof on the Hokage's desk.

He knew it was a message from Jiraiya. He took the scroll as the frog disappeared.

He read it to himself.

"Dear Old Monkey,

I, the great Jirai.. yada yada yada have sent this letter to inform you about Naruto's progress. I know this is a week earlier than we had planned, but I have learnt enough about the boy to make my decision.

Uzumaki Naruto, will be the next Toad Sannin in my stead. He has the potential to achieve this. I will not be returning to Konoha in time for the chuunin exams, and neither will Naruto. I shall train him personally and will ensure by the time he returns to Konoha, he will be far stronger than what he initially was.

Signed,

Toad Sannin Jiraiya"

The Hokage smiled a wide smile. 'Looks like your future is in good hands Naruto.', he thought to himself.

--

(Waterfall capital. Random dingy bar.)

Naruto and Jiraiya sat on two bar stools, staring at the bartender.

"So what's the latest news?", Jiraiya asked the man.

The bartender looked cautiously at the blonde sitting next to Jiraiya. Jiraiya noticed this and turned to Naruto.

"Naruto go and stand guard outside.", he instructed the boy.

"Uhm..alright", said Naruto as he walked out of the bar, feeling slightly bummed at not being able to listen in on the conversation.

The bartender nodded at Jiraiya as he spoke in his raspy voice, "I've heard that Orochimaru has started to make his move. He has created an alliance of sorts with Sand. They might be using the upcoming chuunin exams, to stage a coup de tat."

Jiraiya nodded at this, "Good job. And, what about Tsunade? Have you seen her around?"

The bar tender nodded again, "Yeah, she was here last month. I think she was planning to head towards the country of Grass."

"Drinking?"

"Yeah she still is. Even more than I last saw her."

"Alright, thanks for your information.", Jiraiya tossed the man a bagful of coins as he waved at him and walked out to join Naruto.

Naruto looked up as the man walked out of the bar, "How was it?"

"It went well. Let's head out now.", replied Jiraiya.

Both ninja headed towards the city limits.

--

(Three and a half weeks later)

The two ninjas had travelled to around 12 different cities so far. Jiraiya had introduced Naruto to all his confidants. He was making sure the boy had connections in every place, a necessity for the Toad Sannin and spy network head.

After a bit over three weeks of travel, they had arrived in the country of Grass, heading straight for the capital.

Jiraiya had taught Naruto a lot over the last few weeks. He had first gotten the boy to summon many different frogs and introduced them to him, stating their strengths and weaknesses. He had told Naruto that to summon a particular frog , all he had to do was think try to image the frog in his mind, or simply add it's name at the end of the jutsu name.

Besides the many things Naruto learnt from Jiraiya, he had focused on training with his tonfa, training his elemental abilities and had focused on trying to unlock the tonfa's first stage.

Jiraiya had also taught him how to call out the Kyuubi chakra.

_Flaaaashback_

"Okay Naruto, we're far away from Konoha now, so I can freely teach you without having the old man watch over me.", Jiraiya had told Naruto.

Naruto shivered slightly at what it was that Jiraiya couldn't teach him under the Hokage's supervision. "Okay."

"Today, I'll teach you how to control Kyuubi's chakra."

"I can control it's chakra?", Naruto asked slightly shocked.

"Yes, you should be able to.", Jiraiya answered. "Okay, this shouldn't be very hard for you to learn, as you have called upon its chakra before, so your body has adapted to it. Simply concentrate on calling out your chakra like you usually do. Only, think of the chakra as a rough, raw, concentrated substance. If it helps you can imagine the chakra to be red in colour."

It did help. Naruto half a day later had managed to call the chakra out, as it bubbled on his skin and slowly started to envelope his whole body at a rapid pace.

Jiraiya quickly told Naruto what to do next, "Alright, now use your will power to control and manipulate the chakra."

Naruto focused on the chakra forming a claw around his right hand. The chakra obeyed, as it formed a glove over Naruto's limb, claws protruded. "Cool!" exclaimed the boy.

Jiraiya nodded in appreciation as he spoke again., "Remember Naruto, about the chakra, if you let it run freely, it'll take control of you and turn you into a true monster. So under no circumstances should you call it when you're mind is at unrest. You may as well end up harming your own comrades."

Naruto nodded, "I understand."

_Flasback end_

"Alright, today you will learn my own personally created jutsu.", Jiraiya told the boy. He had learnt that Naruto quickly learnt anything that was thrown at him. No matter how hard the teachings were or how large they were, Naruto easily caught onto the concept and mastered it.

Another change that Jiraiya had noticed in the boy was his demeanor. Naruto, at first a loud mouthed brat that jumped at any chance to show off, now behaved slightly more composed.

He was still a bit too emotional for a ninja, however without that, Naruto wouldn't be Naruto.

"What is it?", Naruto asked the man.

"I call it the infinite wisdom technique. A normal human uses only 4 of his brain. This technique should allow you to expand it to 5 for a temporary period of time. This extra one percent will help you concentrate better and be able to catch and memorize multiple conversations going on simultaneously. It's a good technique to have when you are in a hurry to receive a report or when you feel there's too much information for you to handle.", said Jiraiya.

"Uh.. I don't get it. Maybe you can demonstrate?", asked Naruto.

"Yeah sure. Create three clones and tell them to talk to me about three entirely different topics, at the same time.", said Jiraiya.

Though a bit confused Naruto did as he was told.

Jiraiya made a weird hand seal that Naruto hadn't seen before, "Ninja Arts: Infinite Wisdom.", he said.

There was no change in his appearance. The three clones started to talk rapidly. After a minute or so, Naruto dispelled the clones. Jiraiya formed the same hand seal and said, "Dispell".

Naruto stared at the man, waiting for an explanation on what he was doing. Jiraiya simply re-iterated every single word the Naruto clones had uttered. Naruto looked surprised.

"Cool! So that's what it does.", he said, understanding the purpose of the technique.

"Yeah, it's a technique that can be master in an hour itself. However, the catch is that it puts a lot of stress on the person mentally. However seeing that you've been using hundreds of clones for you training sessions, it shouldn't affect you much.", explained Jiraiya.

"Thanks sensei.", said Naruto as he proceeded to learn the technique.

"Where are we going by the way?", Naruto asked.

"We're going to meet another one of the sannin, Tsunade.", answered Jiraiya.

"I heard she had come to Grass. Grass is famous for it's bars, which is where we will find her most probably.", said Jiraiya.

Naruto sweat dropped at the statement. 'Does any one of the sannin possess any moral values, at all?', he asked himself. 'Maybe the third sannin does.', he concluded. Never could a person have been any more incorrect than Naruto was at that moment.

--

(Two hours later)

They had given up searching for Tsunade. It was impossible to find the woman. They entered a cheap restaurant, to have dinner.

As Jiraiya entered, he saw the very woman they had been searching for, sitting at the back. Jiraiya pointed her out to Naruto. "That's Tsunade.", he said.

"She looks young", said the boy, using his keen eyesight.

"Hehe, she's not.", was Jiraiya reply. "You keep guard here, I'll introduce you to her in a bit. However, I need to talk with her alone for a minute."

Naruto felt like arguing but knew it wouldn't get him anywhere, "Fine.", he said dejectedly.

"Good.", replied Jiraiya as he headed towards the woman.

Naruto however did not feel like missing out on the conversation this time.

He applied some chakra to his ear, but to his dismay, the whole bar was busy talking, not letting him listen to what Jiraiya was saying.

He had an idea, as he formed a hand seal, and quietly whispered, "Ninja Arts: Infinite Wisdom."

He had perfected the technique half an hour ago, and now was perfect to put it to practical use. He felt his brain immediately memorizing what everyone was saying, allowing him to focus on the conversation being carried out between the sannin.

"I've come here on official orders from the Hokage.", said Jiraiya.

"I don't want to know what they are.", said a feminine voice, which he assumed was Tsunade.

"But Tsunade-sama..", said the woman next to her, who Naruto pinned down as her assistant.

"Don't interrupt Shizune-chan.", said Tsunade.

"I'm sorry", said Shizune.

"Don't make this tougher for me Tsunade. This might very well be the last order the old man gives us.", said Jiraiya.

This caught the attention of both blondes(Tsunade and Naruto if you didn't figure it out).

"What?", said Tsunade.

"Yeah, as you know the chuunin exams are under way and I fear that Orochimaru has infiltrated them somehow. He might be after the old monkey's life.", said Jiraiya.

"Well didn't you tell…", asked Tsunade as Jiraiya cut her off.

"Of course I told him! But you know how stubborn he can get. He refused to call of the exams, and sent me to do this final mission for him, just in case the worst were to happen.", Jiraiya said.

Whatever Tsunade's reply was Naruto did not hear. He deactivated the technique, quickly wrote something onto a scroll, and stuck it to the wall using his kunai.

After a few minutes of talking, Jiraiya went to retrieve Naruto. When he got outside, he couldn't spot the boy anywhere. He saw a scroll nailed to the wall by a kunai. He took the kunai out and retrieved the scroll. He opened it up and started to read…

"Dear Sensei,

I am sorry to have invaded you privacy, but I heard what you both were talking about. I am headed back to Konoha, I won't let jii-san die.

Signed,

A loyal citizen of Konoha"

Jiraiya didn't miss the clear jibe at him. He hurried back inside, to get Tsunade. After a couple of seconds, both sannin and Shizune were racing back towards Konoha, after Naruto.

--

(With Naruto)

Naruto was rushing through the forest at an impossible speed. He knew the way back to Konoha, having travelled most of the globe with his sensei. He was seething at the fact that Jiraiya hadn't told him the true nature of their mission before. That, he hadn't told him about Orochimaru's plans before. That, he would idly sit by as the Hokage gave his life for the village.

He called out for Kyuubi's chakra. As enough red chakra had seeped out through the pores in his skin, he formed them into claws for all four of his limbs. Naruto gained a considerable burst in speed as the claws finished forming. They increased his speed greatly, but drained his chakra almost as fast as well.

--

(With Jiraiya and co.)

"Shit I can't believe I was so careless!", shouted Jiraiya frustrated at himself.

"There's no use whining about that now.", stated Tsunade sharply. Jiraiya had persuaded her to help him catch the boy, by promising her that he wouldn't ever write another one of his perverted books.

Jiraiya obviously, wouldn't honor his promise. He would lay low for a month or so before starting work on his book again. Tsunade knew this as well, but she was satisfied that Jiraiya would suffer for a month or so.

They finally reached the forest that lay between Grass and Konoha. They quickly found the boy's tracks, hiding his trail obviously wasn't a priority at the moment for the boy.

As they reached deeper into the forest, they saw deep claw marks on the tree trunks, and branches.

"Great! He's using the fox's chakra as well!", Jiraiya stated sarcastically.

"He can control Kyuubi's chakra?", asked Tsunade.

"Yeah he's pretty good at it.", replied Jiraiya.

"That's impressive.", admitted Tsunade.

--

(In Konoha)

Large black colored clouds of smoke covered the sky from view. Buildings were burning, flames growing, spreading. Blood stained most of the walls. Casualties included mainly shinobi, the villagers had already been evacuated to the mountain hideout. A large three headed snake ran amok, killing people and destroying building in it's wake.

All spectators in the arena were fast asleep. Kakashi and Gai fought hard the keep the enemy shinobi at bay.

On the roof of a tall structure, Orochimaru held the Hokage captive. Four ninja from his village quickly assembled around him forming a double layered barrier, pinkish-purple in color. Nothing could go in or out, and in addition nothing could hurt the four barrier makers either.

An ANBU squad landed on the roof, just as the barrier went up. One of them ran straight into the barrier, trying to use brute force to get through, however was incinerated on the spot.

The ANBU captain spoke up, "And that's why none of you should touch the barrier."

The other ANBU nodded.

--

(With Naruto)

Naruto, saw the village burning. He was almost there. He looked back to see the sannin come into view. 'Of course, they're called sannin for a reason. Even with the head start and the Kyuubi chakra, I can't entirely match their speed.', he cursed.

He called forth Kyuubi's chakra again, forming a tale. He latched onto a tree with it, and continued running. The tree was uprooted, as the boy quickly used it as a battering ram, to fell other trees in the vicinity. Satisfied, with the small obstacle he had created he lef the tree and his tail retracted. He continued his journey, speeding as much as he could to reach the village.

--

(With Jiraiya and co.)

They had him in sight. The sannin were really putting their all into capturing the boy. Though they were faster than the boy, he had a head start, which put him a couple of seconds ahead. Also they had to take turns carrying Shizune, who wasn't as fast.

They had to come to a halt as they saw the pile of trees lying in front of them. Jiraiya quickly held his right hand out as a small glowing sphere started to form in his hand. He was about to incinerate the obstacles, when the tree exploded. Naruto had stuck the exploding tag towards his side, and hence, it was nearly invisible for the sannin.

The explosion shot the sannin and Shizune back by a fair distance.

--

(With Naruto)

Naruto heard the explosion and he winced. He knew his actions could be considered treason, but he didn't care. He knew that an explosion of that nature couldn't kill Jiraiya and assumed that the other sannin would be strong enough to withstand it as well.

He had reached Konoha.

He saw the familiar gates looming ahead, however the were left open and completely unattended. He shot through, a blur of red and black. He entered the city and immediately headed for the stadium. On his way he saw the large barrier. On instinct alone, he decided to head towards the barrier.

--

(Barrier)

The ANBU watched as the Hokage refused to attack his ex-student. He was trapped in a cage, surrounded by the trees that the possessed Shodaime(First) Hokage had manipulated. Orochimaru had reincarnated the Shodaime and Nidaime (First and second) Hokage a few minutes ago. The Hokage had managed to stop the third coffin from opening.

However doubt had settled into the man's heart. He didn't know if he'd be able to kill his own student. The ANBU watched the Hokage talk to his summon Monkey King, Enma. After a few moments they saw a new man emerge from the cage. There stood the Sandaime(Third) Hokage, his resolve clear in his eyes. He formed a cross ram seal as he created two kage bunshin.

Naruto landed next to the ANBU captain. He quickly dispersed the Kyuubi chakra and formed a hand seal. "Ninja Arts: Infinite Wisdom", he shouted.

The ANBU, weary of this new arrival had equipped their weapons.

"Who are you?", asked the captain as he saw the boy perform an unfamiliar jutsu.

"That's not important. I'm a Konoha ninja.", Naruto said wiping the dirt off his forehead protector, revealing the Konoha symbol.

The ANBU lowered their weapons.

"Tell me what's going on inside there? Speak as fast you can.", said the boy.

The ANBU closest to him quickly described what was happening in a hushed voice. Had Naruto not been using Jiraiya's technique, he might have lost valuable time.

"Okay.", he nodded at the ANBU and dispelled his jutsu.

He walked up to the barrier and observed it quickly.

"Don't touch it or you'll burn", said the ANBU captain.

"Right. Thanks.", replied Naruto.

He couldn't get through it by force. He looked up. It was too high to jump and by the time he could discover a way up, it might be too late. He then noticed the four ninja holding up the barrier. They all seemed to be concentrating on keeping the barrier stable.

He had found his way in.

**'You better hurry up kit'**, Kyuubi stated suddenly. He had started to refer to Naruto as kit, after the Gamabunta incident. Apparently Naruto had earned the fox's respect along with the huge toad's.

'Why?'

'**That's the shiki fuujin seal that the old man's attempting to do.'**, said the Kyuubi recognizing the hand seals. **'The seal that Yondaime used to imprison me in you. The old man plans to sacrifice himself for the village.'**

'Thanks.', stated Naruto quickly. His time was limited.

He quickly bit his thumb and performing some hand seals summoned a large, bulky orange frog.

The frog, Gamakon, a.k.a. bulldozer as most called him due to his large build, looked around for his summoner.

'_Ah, Naruto-sama. What can I do for you?'_, asked the frog.

'Bulldozer how much do you weigh?', asked Naruto hurriedly.

"_Uhm.. 250kilos sir."_, he replied.

"Good, that should work.", replied Naruto.

"_What do you want me to do sir?"_, asked the frog.

Naruto quickly explained the plan to the frog. The frog nodded as both himand his master approached one of the ninjas holding the barrier up. She wore a long whit coloured shirt, with a thick purple rope tied around her as a belt. She had red coloured hair that poked out from underneath her black beanie.

"What the fuck are you lookin at?", asked the hot-blooded woman.

"My next target.", replied the boy.

--

(With Jiraiya)

Utterly pissed at the boy, Jiraiya had decided to end this charade. He pumped some chakra too his leg and was off like a jet. He rushed past the battered trees, and headed for the village gates. He ran straight through them and looked around for anything suspicious. He saw the large barrier near the stadium, and immediately headed towards it.

Tiles were pried of roofs as the sannin ran straight for the barrier.

A couple of seconds later he landed next to the ANBU captain, who for the second time that day had let a man past his guard. He recognized Jiraiya immediately and alerted him about the situation.

"Where's the blonde kid?", asked Jiraiya.

"He's right around the corner of the barrier.", answered the man.

Jiraiya nodded as he spotted Naruto and what appeared to be bulldozer next to him?

'Oh FUCK!', he cursed mentally.

He quickly turned towards the ANBU squad. He picked up the captain and threw him off the roof unceremoniously. The other three ANBU saw their captain being thrown of the roof and before they could react, not that they knew how to in the situation anyway, they were picked up by the sannin.

Jiraiya quickly ran towards the other three, picking two of them up with his right hand and the third with his left. He quickly jumped off the roof, following the same trajectory the surprised captain had.

'Hey that's my breast!', thought the female ANBU in the squad, but didn't voice her complaint, as she was sure it was unintentional.

A trickle of blood was flowing down the sannin's nose as he jumped off with his hostages. A second later, a shock wave seemed to course through the tiles on the roof as the roof literally exploded, shooting of tiles in every direction.

Naruto and Jiraiya had a secret message system they had developed, using hand signs. They had done so to get out of tricky situations, for example being tracked down or chased by hostile enemies, mainly angry hordes of women.

Naruto had seen his sensei land on the roof. He quickly finished his preparations, the Kyuubi chakra had gathered around his legs again, forming a set of clawed feet. Naruto saw Jiraiya turn around at look at him. He signaled a message to the man, what it said was, 'Boom'.

Jiraiya saw the message and then saw bulldozer next to him. He knew what was going on in his pupil's mind and had hence decided to evacuate all occupants.

Naruto signaled the frog to begin. Bulldozer crouched and with a might roar, jumped high into the sky. Naruto braced himself, smiling at the ninja inside the barrier.

"What are you smiling at ass…", the woman was cut off by the blonde kid.

"Goodbye.", and with that the huge frog reappeared, landing in the very same spot, 250kilos of force combined with the affect of gravity, ploughed through the roof as the whole structure shuddered. The shockwave affected the woman the most, as she was closest to the frog.

She lost her concentration for a couple of seconds, all Naruto needed. As the barrier fell apart on the woman's side, Naruto quickly shot through the opening.

He was in.

--

And that's chapter 5, hope you enjoyed it

Oh and this chapter was written while listening to Donten by Does. It's a jap song, from the anime gintama(a must watch comedy). Also Slither by velvet Revolver(if I could play that solo on the guitar…) and Through the glass by Stone Sour.

I saw 21 yesterday, and after all the hype for the movie, it frankly bored me. And yeah I know it's been out for long, but I just happened to watch it yesterday.

Yosh, off to write my next chapter then.

Read and review. Thanks.


	6. Chapter 6 : Yoinokuchi

Chapter Six – Yoinokuchi

Please read and review, thanks.

Disclaimer- Don't own Naruto or any other anime/games/manga mentioned in the chapter or story.

I'm gonna clear up some of the things here, that two of the readers have asked me so far.

First. Naruto hasn't completely unlocked stage one or stage alpha of his tonfa yet. He knows how to manipulate wind chakra, but hasn't tried it out with the tonfa yet.

Second. Naruto isn't attending the chuunin exams. Jiraiya had sent Sarutobi a letter explaining that Naruto wouldn't be attending said exams, as Jiraiya would be busy training the boy. It was in chapter five, here's the letter(I've made the referred part bold):-

"Dear Old Monkey,

I, the great Jirai.. yada yada yada have sent this letter to inform you about Naruto's progress. I know this is a week earlier than we had planned, but I have learnt enough about the boy to make my decision.

Uzumaki Naruto, will be the next Toad Sannin in my stead. He has the potential to achieve this. **I will not be returning to Konoha in time for the chuunin exams, and neither will Naruto.** I shall train him personally and will ensure by the time he returns to Konoha, he will be far stronger than what he initially was.

Signed,

Toad Sannin Jiraiya"

Third. Thanks for the awesome reviews, questions and comments .

Enjoy!

Key-

"Normal Talking"

'Thinking/Mindscape talking'

'**Kyuubi Talking'**

"_Summon Talking"_

(Announcements concerning place and time changes. Also author ramblings)

--

(Inside the barrier)

The red haired woman quickly composed herself, reforming the barrier. She hadn't noticed the boy pass through. Most of the roof had caved in. Though the part inside the barrier had been shaken up pretty well, it remained intact.

'**Hurry up kit, he's going through the last couple of seals.'**, said Kyuubi.

'Shit', cursed Naruto as he quickly sped towards the old man.

The Hokage had closed his eyes, concentrating and was on his last seal, he could feel his chakra start to drain, as the technique was slowly coming to life. All of a sudden, he couldn't move his arms. He opened his eyes to see Naruto standing in front of him, firmly holding his hands in place.

"Jii-san you haven't seen me become Hokage yet. Don't you dare die.", said the boy with a grin.

"Naruto… what are you..", was all the old man could say, before Naruto pinched the side of his neck. The old man lost consciousness as he fell limply into the boy's hands.

The monkey king Enma, moved towards the boy threateningly.

"Don't worry, I wouldn't have risked my life to get here, just to kill him. Take him somewhere safe.", said Naruto as he handed the body to the monkey king.

Enma checked the Hokage's body for a pulse, having found one he nodded at Naruto and took the man's body away.

Naruto looked at his opponents, he recognized the two Hokage but couldn't place the third man. "You must be Orochimaru I'm guessing?", Naruto asked the pale man.

"Kukuku, and you are?", replied Orochimaru.

"Uzumaki Naruto, the man who's going to kick your ass.", stated Naruto bluntly.

"Ah the kitsune's container. Very interesting. I'm sorry but I'm going to have to kill you for stealing my prey.", said Orochimaru as he commanded the two Hokage to attack.

Naruto created two dozen clones, and instructed them to evenly split up and take on the two Hokage.

The clones nodded in unison as they rushed towards their opponents.

"Very well, I'll kill you myself.", said Orochimaru.

'**Kit that guy isn't normal, he's giving off a really evil aura. And he looks strong.'**

'I know.'

Naruto bit his thumb and swiped it through the tattoo on his left wrist. The two tonfa appeared.

"Well, I haven't used these before, but I have a good feeling about them this time", Naruto said to Orochimaru.

'**..didn't you say that the last time too?'**, asked Kyuubi.

'…mind your own business.'

Orochimaru smirked as he threw two kunai at the boy, which were deflected easily by the blonde's tonfa.

Orochimaru took out another kunai and rushed at the boy. Naruto saw the man approach and bent his knees, getting into a defensive position. He saw the man swipe at him, as he ducked low to avoid it.

Naruto quickly got up and blocked an attack with his left tonfa, striking Orochimaru at the juncture between his neck and shoulder blade, with his right hand weapon. The man melted into mud and a cold, creepy voice addressed Naruto from behind.

"Back here Naruto-kun.", said the man, "Senejaishu."(hidden shadow snake hand), he said, almost in a whisper. Ten snakes or so shot out from both of his sleeves, latching onto Naruto, making him unable to move.

Naruto called out for the red chakra and quickly formed it into a tail. The tail swiped at the snakes, decapitating them.

Orochimaru frowned as he saw his snakes die. Naruto turned around and aimed a roundhouse kick to the man's skull. Orochimaru simply brought his hand up, blocking the boy's attack. He then began his own taijutsu attack.

The man aimed a punch at Naruto, which was quickly slapped aside. Orochimaru continued undeterred, kicking and punching at the boy. Naruto continued to evade, not finding a chance to attack.

'Damn it! His attacks are perfectly timed. He isn't very fast but his timing makes up for it. Also his attacks lack power, so even if I did absorb enough hits it wouldn't matter much, besides I haven't tried absorbing attack through a weapon yet. I know one can emit the energy out, as I did with Oblivion, but I don't know if it can absorb energy too.', said Naruto, quickly analyzing his situation.

'**Yeah, and besides all that, the snake bastard's attacks are mainly medium ranged.'**, added the Kyuubi.

'Alright then there's nothing to do but attack him head on.'

Orochimaru felt something was off. Naruto kept trying to get Orochimaru to hit the tonfa's surface as he dodged the blows. Sure enough, Naruto could feel the weapon suck the energy from the man's attacks.

'Wow, it worked, the tonfa can absorb energy. And also, it feels easier to absorb energy through them.', thought Naruto.

'**Yeah, its most probably cuz of its chakra channeling capabilities, as I told you before.'**

Orochimaru felt his attacks having no affect on the boy. He lifted an eyebrow as he pressed on, something was definitely wrong.

Naruto smiled, he had absorbed around twenty hits worth of energy. He took a small breath and ordered the tonfa to release the stored energy. Sure enough, the energy shot out from both the tonfa's surface, one after the other. Only it was slightly different, much like the oblivion, the energy could be clearly seen, white-ish blue in colour. However at the same time, the energy that shot out was in the shape of a crescent, the shape of a semi-lunar moon and seemed to be more powerful than the energy he had absorbed.

'Woah!', thought Naruto. He stared at the pair of tonfa admiringly.

'**The brothers are telling me that the blade shapes the energy into the form of a crescent to spread the range of attack and also as shaping the energy helps concentrate it's power. Which is why the shots you just fired off felt more powerful than what energy you had absorbed.'**

'Awesome!'

'**Yeah now stop staring at your weapon and pay attention to the battle.'**

'Alright. I'll call this attack Crescent Moon.'

Orochimaru had managed to dodge the first bolt of energy. He had missed the second one as it cut through his side, opening up a gash. He saw the wound grow bigger, slowly.

'What was that?', thought the man, genuinely interested. 'And why is my wound still growing?'

Naruto smirked at the sight of blood at the man's side. Orochimaru decided to end the fight fast, his mission was being jeopardized. He opened his mouth an pulled out a sword. "Kusanagi no Tsurugi"(Kusanagi sword), he stated.

Holding the blade with both hands, he lunged at Naruto yet again. Naruto dodged to the side as the blade flew past him. Orochimaru rotated the handle and swung it around horizontally. Naruto ducked, narrowly avoiding the head splitting blow.

Naruto backpedalled as Orochimaru brought the sword down again. He tripped over a root and fell flat on his back. Orochimaru taking this opportunity appeared next to the boy and drove the blade downwards. Naruto rolled aside, but was caught by the blade as it pierced through his side.

He felt searing pain on his left side as the cold metal blade squirmed about inside him. However this pain felt abnormally intense.

'What's going on Kyuubi?', asked Naruto.

**'It's really potent snake venom. It's preventing the wound from closing. At this rate you'll die from blood loss. You need to end this now.'**

Naruto pinned down, aimed a kick at the man, who simply sidestepped and pushed the blade in deeper. Then realization struck Naruto, he saw the wound on Orochimaru's side. He tightly gripped onto his weapon and whispered "Kai".

The wound exploded violently, separating, Orochimaru's right hand, , the hand that was holding onto the sword of Kusanagi, from the rest of his body. Naruto seized this opportunity and quickly jerked the sword out, throwing it away.

He went to finish off the man, but was blocked by the two undead Hokages. He quickly stole a glance of his surroundings, seeing all his clones had been destroyed. Orochimaru grimaced in pain as he ordered a retreat. The four sound ninja quickly dropped the barrier and rushed to Orochimaru's side. One of them went to retrieve the sword of Kusanagi. Naruto noticed the movements and tried to intercept Orochimaru, but was blocked by the Hokages.

He quickly thought of the best possible alternative and created a clone. The clone transformed itself into a fly, and quickly headed for the female sound ninja's shoulder. The four sound ninja took off holding Orochimaru by their sides.

"Enjoy fighting those two, brat!", shouted Orochimaru in a painful voice as he pointed with his left, and only, hand at the two Hokage in front of Naruto.

Naruto panted hard, the poison was slowing his reflexes.

**'Kit, you were extremely luck to have gotten a hit on that snake bastard. However, don't count on it to happen again. You are absolutely no match for those two Hokages, and in less than a minute you will lose consciousness. So you better think of something, fast.'**

Naruto furrowed his eyebrows, but the pain made it impossible for him to focus. He dodged the undead Hokages' attacks lethargically, getting cut in many places.

**'30 seconds left'**

Naruto's vision started to blur. He rolled to the side as the Nidaime released a highly pressurized jet of water, at the place where Naruto had been a second ago.

**'15 seconds left'**

Naruto ran, trying to create a distance between himself and the Hokages. He fell to the floor, exhausted, bleeding. He saw the two figures loom over him.

**'5 seconds left kit!'**

Naruto couldn't understand what Kyuubi was saying. He saw the Shodaime point his palm at him, a pointed wooden stake shot out, approaching him head on.

He heard a whizzing sound and then his eyes closed.

A combination of thirty shuriken and kunai stuck to the backs of both the Hokages.

There stood Sandaime(third), his hands outstretched, showing him to be the source of the projectiles. He formed a ram seal, and yelled, "Kai". The bodies of the fake Hokages scattered around as the explosive seals, stuck to some of the kunai blew up with a large boom.

'I hate these blonde kids, they always jump in to save the day, leaving a man like me behind.', thought the Hokage.

"_Are you alright Hokage sama?"_, asked the monkey king.

"Yeah, thanks to Naruto, I am. You can go now."

The monkey king nodded, _"It was nice fighting with you again."_, he said as he disappeared in a puff of smoke.

Sarutobi picked up the boy and headed back towards the ground. However, before he could jump off the roof he was met by the ANBU squad and a frowning Jiraiya.

"Are you alright Hokage-sama?", asked the ANBU captain.

"Yes I'm fine. The boy however needs some medical attention. Get the poison out of his body. Take him to the nearest hospital and fast. Also, escort him there, and keep guard. Make sure none of the hospital staff attempt to harm the boy.", said the Hokage.

"But Hokage-sama, we're meant to guard…"

"That's an order.", cut in the Hokage.

"I'm sorry.", said the man. He picked up the boy and the four ANBU quickly headed off in search of a medic.

The Hokage pulled out his pipe and lit it, inhaling deeply.

Jiraiya who had been quiet so far, decided to speak up, but the Hokage beat him to it.

"Naruto… Some boy he is. He managed to hold his own against Orochimaru. You trained him well.", said the Hokage.

"Heh. Most of what he did in there was his own work.", replied the sannin. "What happens from here on, gramps?"

"I've decided to retire. This line of work seems to be too hectic for me. And every time the Shinigami (death god) calls to me, one of my pupils seems to take the fall. I would've given my position to Naruto happily, but he's too young, I don't want him to carry this burden at such a small age. Also, I don't think he's quite there yet.", stated the man.

"So then who will you be appointing to the throne?", said Jiraiya.

"Tsunade."

"Thought so."

"You managed to bring her along didn't you?"

"Of course I did. A mission's a mission."

"… how long before you can start work on your next novel then?", asked the Hokage with a slightly perverted smile.

"I have to wait a month this time."

"I see. On a more serious note, will you continue to train Naruto? He did disobey a direct order, and in the ninja world, that could lead to a lot of casualties."

"I haven't decided yet."

The Hokage nodded as both men headed back towards the Hokage tower.

**--**

(A week later)

The Hokage stood on tope of the wooden stage as he addressed the people of Konoha, that had gathered in front of him.

Behind him sat Tsunade and her assistant Shizune, an old man with half his face covered in bandages, Danzo and a couple of council members.

"As you know, a week ago Orochimaru managed to infiltrate our village. However, due to will of fire present in every single one of you Konoha citizens here, civilians and shinobi alike, total destruction was avoided. Most of our building have been destroyed, but a village isn't the structures it holds, it's the people that live in it. Thankfully, we did not suffer heavy casualties, which is what is important. Many citizens did however fall for the village and to them all I give my deepest respects. Observe a minute of silence for those brave souls."

The villagers stopped there murmuring as a minute of silence was ensued. The hokage then spoke up again.

"Most of our village has been rebuilt and hopefully things will be back to normal by the end of this week. And now, I would like to honor a single boy in particular. Most of you know him and despite what he truly is, most of you fail to acknowledge him. He couldn't be here as he is still recovering from his injuries. That boy is Uzumaki Naruto, the reason I am still alive today."

Murmurs of how the old man had gone senile rang through the crowd. Some accepted the Hokage's words, ashamed at how they had treated the boy, whereas most just turned a deaf ear to the Hokage's proclamation.

The Hokage held up his hands to silence the crowd. "You do not need to believe me, but I felt that it had to be mentioned. The boy has suffered enough, but that's not what I'm here to talk about. I am here to make my retirement official. Today I shall assign my new successor."

Some of the crowd cheered as they chanted "Danzo! Danzo!". However, this time a majority of the crowd remained silent. Though most of the villagers and shinobi didn't like the man for supporting the 'demon fox boy', they still respected the man greatly. They didn't want him to retire.

"Don't worry, I'll still be around and all of you are free to visit me whenever you want.", he said happily. "Also, I assure you all that the person I have chosen is highly suitable for the post. So without further ado let me introduce you to her."

'Her?', were the thoughts of most of the citizens. Danzo quietly seethed inside, knowing that the old man still wouldn't give him the position.

"Tsunade."

The woman stood up and walked towards the Hokage, shaking his hand. "Old man, I'm going to kill you for this.", she whispered in his ear.

The Hokage chuckled nervously and he took his seat next to Shizune.

--

(Later that day)

Naruto walked out of the hospital, still wearing his gown. He had managed to slip past the ANBU guards. He quickly changed his clothes in an alley nearby and headed back home.

He walked along the streets leisurely, looking at the villagers rebuild their homes. The villagers continued to ignore the boy, and would occasionally even throw an insult at him. However some waved at the boy, smiling. Naruto was surprised, he didn't know what to do, and cautiously waved back.

He stumbled across the Nara mansion, which had been mostly rebuilt. He looked at the sky and saw a couple of white, puffy clouds floating around carefree. He nodded as he knew where Shikamaru would be.

He climbed up to the roof, and sure enough, there lay Shikamaru, staring at the sky. His left hand seemed to be in a cast.

"Yo Shikamaru!", said Naruto.

The boy looked up to see the familiar face. "Ah, welcome back Naruto. I heard you saved the Hokage, good job."

"Yeah, thanks", replied Naruto.

"Heh, you've managed to change yet again.", said the astute boy.

"What?"

"The old Naruto would've been jumping around shouting at how he saved the most powerful ninja in the village."

Naruto smiled as he lay down, staring at the sky.

"So where's Chouji?", asked Naruto.

"He's in the hospital.", replied Shikamaru.

"He was hurt in the attack?! Is he alright!?", exclaimed Naruto, quickly sitting up to look at the boy.

"There we go, that's the old Naruto for you. No, he wasn't hurt, he's there because of an eating disorder or something.", replied Shikamaru.

Naruto sweat dropped, a common occurrence when he was around these two.

"Ah that's a relief. So how are all the others?", he asked Shikamaru.

"Well, most of them are fine. Uchiha-san seems to be acting a little more weird lately. But besides that the only one who was injured seriously was Rock Lee. He had to fight this deranged psychopath of some sort, Gaara from Sand. He fought the boy in the first round of the Chuunin exams and his left leg was nearly crushed. Then later on, when the attack on Konoha began, the Sand seemed to have teamed up with Sound. Gaara, apparently transformed into a beast of some sorts. You teammates went to stop the guy, but failed. Apparently, Rock Lee went to save them, and managed to beat that Gaara guy as well.", said the lazy boy, finishing his informal report.

'Beast? Jinchuuriki?', thought Naruto.

'**Could be, I heard the one tailed raccoon was imprisoned in some brat in Sand. Could have been him'**, answered Kyuubi.

"How's Lee doing?", asked Naruto.

"Not good I'm afraid. I don't think he'll be able to continue being a ninja anymore. And of all the people in this village, that guy surely deserves to be one.", replied Shikamaru sadly.

Naruto was left wordless, Rock Lee had been the closest thing he had to a rival. Sasuke was a rival too, but it didn't matter much when the other refused to accept you as one. Lee however had openly accepted Naruto as one of the rivals on his long list. The guy was a boisterous, kind hearted one, and a good friend of Naruto's.

Naruto felt as if he needed to do something for the boy, "I'll talk to you later Shikamaru."

"Sure.", replied the boy.

--

(Hospital)

Naruto knocked on the door, and slid it open. He saw Lee lying in bed, reading a shinobi manual.

"Yo Lee! How's life?", asked Naruto in a fake cheery tone.

"It's excellent Naruto-kun!", replied Lee in a similar tone. "I heard you saved the Hokage. That's what I'd expect of my rival!"

Naruto laughed at the boy, "You could've easily done the same Lee."

Lee nodded. "Well Naruto-kun, I'm feeling really tired, so why don't you come back later?", said Lee in a slightly sorrowful tone, a complete contrast to how he usually behaved.

Naruto noticed this and nodded as he left the room. He could hear the quiet sobbing inside.

Something had to be done! Naruto quickly walked out of the hospital, heading towards the Hokage tower. He would ask the old man to do something, surely someone as powerful as him could.

After a couple of minutes of walking, Naruto saw a familiar face. "Yo Konohamaru!", shouted Naruto. "What's with all the kitchen equipment?", he asked the smaller boy.

Konohamaru wore an overturned pan as a cap on his head and held a ladle in his hand.

"Ah welcome back nii-san(big brother). This is my armor and weapon. I'm going to teach tat old hag a lesson!", said the boy.

"You shouldn't be talking about the old monkey in that way.", said Naruto, equally disrespectful.

"I'm talking about that woman!"

"Which woman?", said Naruto, confused.

"Ah you haven't heard? My gramps retired and made her the Hokage. I think her name is Tsunade.", answered Konohamaru.

"WHAT!?", said the surprised Naruto.

"Yeah, so I'm going to go run her out of town! Wanna join me?", asked the little boy.

Any other person in the village, except maybe Danzo, would have told Konohamaru to stop acting foolishly, but we're talking about Naruto here.

"HELL YES!", said the blonde as both the delusional ninja (Konohamaru is an academy student now, although a primary one or whatever), headed towards the tower.

They ran into the tower, surprising the receptionist. After a few minutes of talking, the two boys were told that Tsunade wasn't in her office and had headed towards the village.

--

(An hour later)

The two boys had been searching for Tsunade in every bar possible, Naruto having known the woman's drinking tendencies. "Well this is the last one.", said Naruto.

They headed towards the bar and stopped as they saw Tsunade sitting on a chair near the window, sake cup in hand, with three or four thick scrolls lying open in front of her.

They decided to listen in on what she was doing before they attacked.

"Khe, this is driving me crazy. Isn't there any way to solve this?", Tsunade muttered to her self, as she mused over something.

The boys were about to make their move, when they saw Tsunade's assistant, Shizune enter the scene.

"Ah! I finally found you Tsunade-sama! What have you been doing?", asked the assistant.

"I've been trying to figure out a way to operate on that Rock Lee kid, that won't end up with him dead.", said Tsunade as she poured over another scroll.

Naruto and Konohamaru looked slightly shocked. "Why is she doing that?", Konohamaru whispered to Naruto.

"I don't know.", whispered Naruto back, equally confused.

"You've been going over these scrolls for over two hours now. Why don't you take a break Tsunade-sama?", suggested Shizune.

"Because this surgery has never been carried out successfully before, imagine the vast improvement I could create in the medical field!", said Tsunade, not looking up from the scroll.

"Ah, she's just after some fame for her self.", whispered Naruto to the smaller boy.

Konohamaru nodded at the only possible explanation. He was going to add his own two bits, but was silenced as Tsunade continued to speak.

"..and besides all that, it's one of the Hokage's duties, amongst many,", added Tsunade with a sigh, "to carry the burden of the entire village, and to protect each and every single citizen. I know I didn't initially want this job, but now that I've taken it up, as a citizen of Konoha and as Hokage, if there's even a slightest possibility that boy can be saved, i have to pursue it to the end."

Both the boys lurking outside were shocked by this statement.

"All right. Let's leave her for now", said Naruto with a smile. The village was in safe hands.

Konohamaru nodded, "Yup, we can teach her a lesson some other time."

--

(Two days later)

Rock Lee's operation had been a success, there had been no side effect, and he was back to normal. As he walked out of the hospital, with the help of his crutches that the doctor recommended he used for another week, he was shocked to see the entire rookie nine group assembled outside. They held up a banner that read, 'CONGRATULATIONS LEE!'

Lee couldn't help it, as tears of joy flowed down his face. He could continue being ninja!

(Later that day, Hokage's Office)

Tsunade sat down on the chair behind the desk. Her old sensei, and former Hokage, Sarutobi, sat down on one of the chairs in the room. Jiraiya stood near the window, looking at the view outside.

A knock on the door was heard, as Tsunade said, "Come in."

Naruto pushed open the door, he had been summoned here by the new Hokage. He was slightly nervous, but on seeing the old man, and pervy sage there, he was put at ease.

"Yo!", he said casually. Jiraiya turned around, stern look on his face.

"Naruto we have called you here to answer for some of your actions.", said the hermit.

"What actions?", said Naruto, looking at his sensei.

"Naruto, you disobeyed direct orders and took off on your own to Konoha. This sort of behavior can lead to death and destruction in the shinobi world. What do you have to say for yourself?", Jiraiya asked his pupil in a strict, slightly angry tone.

Naruto had never seen this side of Jiraiya. He looked at the old man for support. Sarutobi quickly looked away, it pained him, but this was a serious crime, and Naruto had to be taught that.

Naruto's face went expressionless as he answered, "I don't have anything to say. I am guilty as charged", he replied in a cold voice.

Jiraiya nodded, and Tsunade spoke up, "Uzumaki Naruto, I hereby charge you…"

The woman couldn't finish her sentence.

"…but.", continued Naruto as he quoted his previous sensei's words, " I have learnt that, ninja that abandon the mission are scum. However those which abandon their comrades, are worse than scum.", he finished off.

Two of the hidden ANBU in the room grinned at each other, immediately having recognized their former captain's words.

Sarutobi smiled as he heard the words.

Jiraiya's expression changed, as a wide grin appeared on his face. "Correct answer Naruto. If you're still interested, I'd like to continue you training."

Tsunade too, nodded in appreciation, "Good choice of words chibi."

Naruto's eye twitched slightly as he heard the familiar nick name, and countered it with one of his own, "Thanks, baa-san(grand mother)."

A vein popped up on Tsunade's forehead as she shouted, "WHAT DID YOU SAY CHIBI?"

Naruto too angered by the repetition of his nick name, shouted, "I SAID BAA-SAN, BAA-SAN", repeated Naruto.

The same set of dialogues repeated for a little while to come, a special bond between the two blondes had been formed.

The Hokage's desk crashed violently against the wall, as Naruto narrowly managed to dodge it. Not a very special bond.

--

(Training Ground Seven)

Kakashi had heard the entire report, how Naruto had rushed in from two cities away, to save the Hokage. How he had managed to injure Orochimaru, how he had quoted his exact words to get out of trouble.

'Just what exactly are you teaching the boy, Jiraiya?', wondered Kakashi, slightly worried.

He had called a re-union meeting, having invited Naruto as well.

Naruto walked towards the centre of the training ground, where he met his tow other teammates. "Yo Sakura, Sasuke!", he greeted. Their sensei still hadn't made an appearance.

"Hmph", replied Sasuke.

"Hmph", replied the wannabe Sakura.

Naruto however did not take offense, over the weeks of training with Jiraiya, he had realized just how much of an arrogant prick Sasuke was, and how unworthy of his attention, Sakura was.

"Oi, dobe(idiot/dropout), the stuff about you saving the Hokage was that true?", asked Sasuke.

"Yeah, they were all just lies weren't they?", asked Sakura.

"Yeah, pretty much just rumors.", said Naruto. He didn't want to have to drag this particular conversation, the Uchiha would ask him where he got his power, and Sakura would pretty much just scream 'Liar'.

"I KNEW IT. NARUTO YOU LIAR!", which Sakura still did end up screaming.

Naruto grimaced slightly as the pink haired girl continued her screaming fit.

After an hour or so, Kakashi poofed into existence, at which point Sakura redirected her attention towards the jounin.

"Ah nice to see you too Sakura. Welcome back Naruto. Good job with the Hokage thing. I take that as a sing that you training went well.", said Kakashi.

"Thanks, and yeah my training is going well. I still have a lot to learn.", replied Naruto.

Both Sasuke and Sakura were a bit confused, why would the jounin fall for such a rumor?

As doubt slowly crept into the Uciha's minds, he did what any Uchiha would have done. He challenged Naruto to a duel.

Naruto looked at Kakashi hesitantly, who was busy reading his book. He took that to mean, it was fine by him.

Naruto looked back at Sasuke, "You want to fight me? The 'dobe'?"

"Just shut up and fight me!", said Sasuke.

Naruto nodded, "Okay."

Sasuke jumped a few steps back, as Sakura hurriedly cleared the battle ground. Naruto saw a strange tattoo on Sasuke's neck, however, he didn't care about what Sasuke did in his spare time, so just ignored it.

"First to draw blood wins?", asked Naruto.

Sasuke nodded. He took out a kunai and threw it at Naruto, then started going through hand seals. "Katon: Gokakyu no Jutsu!", he exclaimed as he shot a massive fireball from his mouth.

Naruto dodged the kunai, as he jumped to the left, quickly creating a clone. He saw the fireball headed straight his way, Sasuke had forced him to jump into the fireball's path. However Naruto was prepared for this. He switched places with his clone, which disappeared as the fireball hit it.

He then created another twelve clones, six stood on either side of him. He held his hand up, and brought it down, as if commanding a set of troops, "Fire!", he exclaimed.

Each clone reached into it's pouch and threw a kunai at the Uchiha. Kakashi had started watching the battle with interest, wanting to see what Naruto had learnt so far.

Sasuke saw the dozen kunai head towards him. Each kunai was aimed at a slight distance from the other, blocking all routes of escape for the boy. Sasuke quickly took out a kunai of his own, and activated his Sharingan. Finding the shortest method of escape, he quickly took it.

Kakashi smiled as he realized what Naruto was trying to do.

'**Ah. You're trying to get him to use up all his chakra. Wouldn't it be easier to attack him head on?'**, asked Kyuubi.

'It would, but I'm doing this for a couple of reasons.'

'**Which are?..'**

'Firstly, I don't want to show him any of my jutsus or moves, he can copy them. Second, I want to see how far my teammate has progressed, gauge his abilities and all. Third, if I beat him up to fast, he'll pester me about where I obtained my power from.'

'**Ah, not bad kit.'**. admitted the fox.

'Thank you.', replied Naruto.

Sasuke rapidly moved his hands, shooting out kunai. Eight of the clones were killed. The remaining four charged the boy. Sasuke countered the attacks and in a few seconds time, got rid of all of them.

He rushed towards the real Naruto.

Naruto saw the boy coming, and took out his tonfa. 'This will be a good chance for me to get more accustomed with the weapon.'

Sasuke attacked Naruto head on, who kept absorbing his attacks. Sasuke went for a punch to Naruto's gut, but his hand was pushed aside by the tonfa. He swung his other hand at the blonde's head. Naruto saw the attack and held his right tonfa up, blocking the strike.

Sasuke then brought his knee up to strike the blonde in his chest. Naruto simply span around the knee, and struck Sasuke's head. Sasuke, slightly shaken by the attack jumped back a few feet. Naruto quickly threw a kunai at the retreating boy. Sasuke moved his head as the kunai sailed past him.

He looked back up, to see Naruto gone. He turned around to see Naruto smiling at him. Naruto brought up his left tonfa, striking Sasuke's chest. Sasuke felt the power behind the attack as he coughed up blood.

"I win", stated Naruto to the downed boy.

Sasuke fumed, how could he have been beaten by someone at Naruto's caliber.

He quickly got up, and rapidly created some hand seals. Kakashi saw what was happening and decided to stop the fight. He started to walk towards the Uchiha.

Sasuke quickly finished the seals and held his right hand downwards, the left hand supporting it at the wrist. "CHIDORI!", he screamed as he rushed at naruto.

Kakashi saw what was happening and broke into a sprint, he wouldn't be able to make it though, they were almost at the opposite end of the training ground.

Naruto heard the chirping sounds and turned around to see the boy charging at him. Naruto didn't know what the thing in Sasuke's hand was, but by the boy's expression, he could make out that it was dangerous.

Sasuke jabbed his hand forward as Naruto brought bought tonfa in front of him, to block.

Naruto ordered the tonfa to start absorbing the energy. He was being pushed back, heels dug deeply into the soil. Sasuke, enraged, continued to push the blonde ninja back.

Naruto saw Sasuke stop pushing and crouch a bit, still holding the 'chidori' as he had heard, towards him. He realized what the boy was going to do.

'Shit! He's gonna make a sudden lunge at me, and try to get past the tonfa.'

Sure enough, Sasuke leapt forward, stretching his legs out. Naruto at the very same moment, released all the pent up energy in the tonfa, "Crescent Moon!", he shouted.

Two bolts of energy, arranged in the shape of a giant 'X', shot out towards the boy, blasting him back.

Sasuke fell back hard. He felt one of his ribs crack as the collision had propelled him a good distance away from the boy. He saw Sakura and Kakashi rush towards him, but had fainted before they could reach.

"WHAT DID YOU DO?", yelled Sakura.

Naruto looked at Kakashi and said, "I'm sorry sensei."

"Maa, it was Sasuke's fault to begin with, so no problem.", replied Kakashi casually as he picked up Sasuke, headed towards the hospital. Sakura ran after him.

Naruto smiled, it felt good to knock down Sasuke a peg or five.

--

(Hokage's Office)

Tsunade was leaning on the desk, as Sarutobi and Jiraiya sat down on the chairs.

"Alright, what did you want to tell me sensei?", she asked Sarutobi respectfully, the only one of his students that did.

"Yes, I've called you both to tell you about Danzo. As you both know, he's been looking at the position of Hokage for a very long time now. You also know that he has his own division in the ANBU, the Root division, which serves only him. For years I have had a feeling that he's been trying to create an uprising. So, as my last task as Hokage, I created a separate division of the ANBU as well, that serves only the Hokage.", said the old man.

"Yeah, I was wondering when you would have enough sense to do something like that.", said Jiraiya. "Danzo has been at your heels since ever! It's about time you got some bodyguards old man."

"Yes, well that's not why I created this organization. I created it to Tsunade who is the current Hokage. The second reason I created it, was to combat Akatsuki.", said Sarutobi.

"Akatsuki?", asked Tsunade.

"Not many people know of Akatsuki as it was just recently formed. I had a tip off from one of my informants in the village of Rain, about the formation of Akatsuki. Apparently it's an organization that recruits S-Class nuke-nin from every village. It has only 9 members, and information about the leader is completely unknown, except that he likes to call himself Pein and is the current ruler of Rain.", explained Jiraiya.

"He's the ruler of an entire shinobi village and we don't know anything about it? What the hell are you doing Jiraiya? Aren't you the head of the spy network?", Tsunade asked angrily.

"Six of my informants in Rain have been killed already. Besides that, no one, not even the villagers know anything about their ruler.", replied Jiraiya casually.

"Yes, so as I was saying..", continued Sarutobi, "The organization is called Yoinokuchi."

Both Jiraiya and Tsunade smiled as they understood the meaning of the word.

(Important note:

Alright, small Japanese lesson here. Aka means red and Tsuki means moon. However that is NOT what Akatsuki means, as most people would believe. The kanji(Japanese writing) for Akatsuki is different from that of red moon. What Akatsuki means is dawn or daybreak. Similarly, Yoinokuchi, means Nightfall. Hope you got the significance of the name now.)

Sarutobi nodded, "Yes, since we're going to be representing mostly the opposite of what Akatsuki will, I decided the name was apt."

Jiraiya nodded, "All that aside, how will a small organization in Konoha, which serves the Hokage alone, be able to do anything?"

Sarutobi chuckled and replied, "You see, Yoinokuchi isn't an organization based in Konoha alone. Like the Akatsuki, it's members are basically the most elite ninja from every strong ninja village. I have managed to assemble eight of them, out of which I too am a member. We need a ninth one. Tsunade will be the official leader, though will not be directly involved. We can't have this tracing back to Konoha, or problems may arise. Jiraiya I want you to be the ninth member."

"Hehe, I'm the leader amongst the members right?", asked Jiraiya, puffing out his chest.

"No.", replied Sarutobi.

"Alright, how about second in command after you?", asked Jiraiya.

"I'm not the leader.", replied Sarutobi.

"Well who is it then?", said Jiraiya, slightly annoyed.

"I'd rather not say.", Sarutobi said in a sad tone.

Jiraiya's tone turned serious, "Who is it old man?"

Sarutobi sighed as he drew another puff from his pipe. "It's Benito Kensei."

"In that case I won't be joining.", said Jiraiya, after which he fell strangely silent, choosing to look out of the window.

"How could you even involve him in any of this?", asked Tsunade.

"Well, as you know, the Akatsuki leader won't be a pushover. We need someone strong. And Kense… uh, Benito is the most powerful one amongst us, even more so than me.", replied Sarutobi.

"I can beat that Pein guy! And even if I can't me and Jiraiya together surely can.", replied Tsunade.

Jiraiya broke his silence and stated, "Pein beat Salamander in one hit, after which he annihilated Salamander's entire clan."

Tsunade looked shocked, "Sa.. Salamander was beaten? In one shot?"

Tsunade fell on her chair with a thud, having lost the feeling in her legs. A long time ago, when Orochimaru was still a part of Konoha, during the second great Shinobi War, there was a man, nay, a demon that was nick named Salamander.

When Konoha attacked Rain, This one man single handedly destroyed the entire Konoha army, which included the three sannin.

Sarutobi's three pupils were the only ones left alive. To honor the three ninja, Salamander had named them Konoha's Sannin, and let them go free. For a man, more powerful than all three sannin combined to have been beaten in one hit… it seemed surreal.

Sure, the sannin had powered up greatly after that incident, but it still was no laughing matter.

"So? Are you in?", Sarutobi asked Jiraiya.

"Only on one condition.", said Jiraiya.

"Which is?", asked Sarutobi.

"You will, relay the position of Benito to me, every time it changes. So that I know where he is at all times.", said Jiraiya.

"You surely don't want to fight him do….", Sarutobi started.

"No, it's to make sure that I am nowhere near him.", Jiraiya said.

"Alright then. He is currently in Rain.", said Sarutobi.

Tsunade shook her head, "He always was crazy, Benito, that bastard."

Jiraiya nodded his agreement.

"What about Naruto? It will be too dangerous for him to travel with me.", asked Jiraiya.

"Yes well, we know that the Akatsuki is targeting all the tailed beast. So Naruto too, should be on their list. Which is why, ironically, he will be safest beside you as well.", replied Sarutobi.

--

(Konoha forest clearing)

Naruto felt nostalgic, as he stood in his old training ground. Jiraiya stood beside him.

"So where are we going to continue my training?", he asked Jiraiya.

"We're going to be in Konoha for a couple of days. After that we're going to be travelling to really dangerous places. So I need to know that you can handle it.", Jiraiya told the boy.

"Dangerous places? Why?", asked Naruto, slightly confused.

Sarutobi had told Jiraiya to tell Naruto only as much as required.

"Alright Naruto, listen carefully to what I'm saying now. There is an organization called the Akatsuki, which hunts down jinchuuriki, for the tailed beasts inside them. They will try to capture you, and then use you to obtain the Kyuubi. Obviously with kyuubi forcefully removed, you will die. So, in order to prevent this, you have to be prepared, you have to be strong enough."

Naruto was startled at the information he had just received. "Jiraiya sensei will I be able to defend myself if I train well enough?", the boy asked.

"Yes you will. And I can understand that you may be scared of dying, but with the proper training, you won't need to worry about that.", said Jiraiya reassuringly.

"Heh. I'm not scared of dying prevy-sage. The only thing I am worried about is what they'll do to the world and especially Konoha, if they got their hands on the fox.", said Naruto confidently.

Slightly shocked at the boy's proclamation Jiraiya gave a small laugh. "That's the spirit brat." 'He's like a television show. You never know what's coming next, but you want to watch it long enough to find out.', he thought to himself.

"Alright, let's begin in that case. Your first task will be to fight me. If you can cut me by the end of this week, I'll teach you something that no one in Konoha could have.", said Jiraiya.

"ALRIGHT! Get ready to get cut!", said the now excited blonde.

Jiraiya smirked, he was a man of his word, most of the times. "Alright start."

--

(3 days later)

Naruto bit his thumb and summoned his tonfa. Jiraiya quickly flashed through some hand seals, and cutting his thumb on a small metal spike on his jacket, he shouted, "Kuchiyose no Jutsu : Gamakon."

"Oh shit, bulldozer?", said Naruto out loud.

Sure enough, there he was, the giant orange frog, sitting beside Jiraiya.

"Alright bulldozer, your enemy today is Naruto, make sure you break some bones. Go!", shouted Jiraiya.

Naruto's eyes widened as he saw the bulky frog rush at him. He tucked the tonfa into his armpits and started going through his own hand seals. "Kuchiyose no Jutsu: Gamana!", he called.

As bulldozer brought his hand down to squash Naruto, it was stopped in mid air. Underneath him stood a slightly smaller, blue colored frog. The blue frog wore heavy samurai armor and arm-guards, made of the same grey metal. Bulldozer's hand had been stopped by Gamana's arm-guard.

"_Yo Naruto-sama! How's life?"_, said a feminine voice.

"It's alright Gamana-chan, thanks for the help", Naruto replied.

"_No problem."_

Jiraiya laughed, "Splendid job Naruto! You managed to do a summoning even under pressure, and managed to find the perfect frog for the job too. But unfortunately for you, these frogs value my orders over yours."

"Go back Gamana-chan and tell your family not to help Naruto here for the next hour or so.", instructed Jiraiya.

"_Yes Jiraiya-sama, sorry Naruto-sama."_, said the frog as she disappeared.

"Dammit prevy-sage that was unfair!", yelled Naruto as he evaded a blow from bulldozer.

"Very often do ninjas fight fair Naruto.", replied Jiraiya as he watched Naruto being chased by bulldozer.

Naruto however, was doing something entirely different. He was luring the orange frog into a certain place. Another couple of blows later, Naruto stopped running. The frog was in a straight line, between him and Jiraiya. Perfect.

Jiraiya was getting bored of watching Naruto squirm about, he was looking around for a source of entertainment, when he heard a large boom and saw the huge orange frog flying towards him.

Naruto had the frog in position. As bulldozer brought his hand down, Naruto blocked it with the tonfa, absorbing the attack's energy. Bulldozer attacked with his other hand, which Naruto blocked with his other tonfa, absorbing it's energy as well. He smiled as he shouted out, "Tonfarin Mixed Arts: Oblivion!", white-ish blue energy blasted the huge frog, carrying him of his feet, heading straight in line, towards the white haired hermit.

'Shit', cursed Jiraiya as he quickly un-summoned the giant frog, however after having received a smack to his forehead by the frog's hand. A huge lump stuck out from underneath his forehead protector.

"Haha! Your hitai-ate has three horns on it now!", laughed Naruto. (yeah I've been spelling it as hitai-ai all along and I was wrong. It's hitai-ate as I found out. Though I won't be changing it in the previous chapters for now, mainly cuz I'm too lazy to comb thru them.)

Jiraiya stared at his student blankly, "You're dead."

"Hehe, bring it on perv.", said Naruto.

"You're going to regret this.", said Jiraiya as he disappeared from Naruto's view.

On pure instinct alone, Naruto brought his right tonfa up, as a clang of metal was heard.

'What the hell? I can't even see him!", said Naruto as he heard a slight wooshing sound on his left, ducking in time to avoid a kunai. He continued to rely on his sound and smell senses along with a little bit of instinct, as the sannin couldn't be seen anymore.

'**Well you're pretty much fucked.'**, said the Kyuubi uncaringly.

'Yosh! I have a plan.', replied Naruto.

Kyuubi's interest grew slightly, waiting to see how the boy would respond in this situation.

Jiraiya had been attacking the boy to no avail. His senses were too sharp for him to be able to pass by undetected. Though the boy couldn't see him anymore, his other senses helped him dodge the attacks.

Naruto smiled as he blocked another attack with his tonfa.

'Since I'm not getting a chance to attack, I might as well cut him with my defense itself.', was Naruto's solution.

He felt Jiraiya approach him, though this time it wasn't because of his heightened senses. No, he was using his elemental affinity. He closed his eyes and could feel the winds around him, as if they were a part of him. He could feel the older man approach him from behind, the winds told him. He smiled, as he quickly turned around, eyes still closed.

He channeled the winds around him into the tonfa and felt it become sharper, felt it grow a blade. He then swung the weapon downwards, first the left one, then the right. "Sanctum, Alpha", he muttered.

Jiraiya had no idea what had happened. He had managed to sneak up behind the brat. Then, he saw the boy turn around smiling, his eyes were closed.

Not liking the situation, Jiraiya tried to back away, but his momentum kept carrying him forward, besides which, he had a suspicious feeling that the winds around him were forcing him to move forward as well.

Two feet away from contact, Jiraiya saw the boy swing his tonfa. 'He's attacking from that far?', he thought to himself. 'Haha, must've misjudged my positon.', thought the man, but was surprised when he felt himself getting cut, twice.

He came to a stop just in front of the boy, as he opened his eyes.

"Yosh! I win!", said the boy. Sure enough, Jiraiya's face was bleeding, what was more surprising was, that both cuts ran down either cheek, lying accurately within the red face paint.

"Well.. that was really impressive", said Jiraiya. He was truly stunned, the boy had perfectly utilized his elemental affinity, to sense the enemy's presence and to attack as well.

Naruto laughed sheepishly at the compliment.

"Alright. Well done, you have passed the test. You have proven that you can remain calm under pressure, and that when being pressurized, you can rely on your senses and instincts to guide you. Besides this you have proven that you can use your wind affinity effectively. Congratulations Naruto, I am going to teach you… the sage arts."

--

Chapter 6 done!

Hopefully I crossed 40,000 today.

Songs that helped write this chapter were mainly, Blaze Line, can't remember who it's by, but its an Eyeshield 21 Opening Song. (Awesome anime, and manga too. It totally got me hooked onto American Football)

Also Unforgiven II by Metallica (it's old, I know)

Besides all this, i have noticed mistakes in my chapters, language related. Some of them are spellings, but mostly are grammatical in nature. Which is why i shall be taking slightly longer in posting up my chapters. I will first go through the previous chapters and then, after I've written my latest chapter, I'll make sure to double check that one too. Hope you understand.

Anyway, hope you enjoyed the chapter. Until next time.

Read and review. Thanks.


	7. Chapter 7 : First Missions

Chapter Seven – First Missions

Please read and review, thanks.

Disclaimer- Don't own Naruto or any other anime/games/manga mentioned in the chapter or story.

I got bored correcting the chapters, or rather the first chapter. So I just quickly scanned for all the places where I had wrongly spelt hitai-ate. I figured that every one's human here, so they should be able to figure out what I was trying to write. Although I will double check every chapter from this one on. Right! On with the story! I think apples make me high…

'Here comes the water..

It comes to wash away the sins of You and I..

This time you'll see.

Like holy water…

It only burns you faster, than you ever dry…

This time, with me.' The song's(slither) got me hooked.

Thanks for the awesome reviews, they've been my muse.

Key-

"Normal Talking"

'Thinking/Mindscape talking'

'**Kyuubi Talking'**

"_Summon Talking"_

(Announcements concerning place and time changes. Also author ramblings)

--

(Konoha Forest Clearing)

"Sage Arts ?", asked Naruto.

"Yeah, you'll see tomorrow. They often take years of practice.", answered Jiraiya, heading back for the village.

"Why can't we start now?", asked the excited Naruto, as he ran after his sensei.

"You'll need your chakra capacity to be at full to go through with the training. So I suggest you take the day off, go enjoy yourself, peek at some women…", said Jiraiya.

"…I don't think anyone besides you does that.", said Naruto.

"Hehe, that's what makes me so special.", said Jiraiya as he disappeared, leaving a small cloud of smoke.

"I really need to learn that.", Naruto muttered to himself.

--

(Outskirts, Konoha)

Two men stood, as they looked at the Leaf village. Most of the village was still under construction, buildings were mostly broken.

"I see Orochimaru has already been here.", stated the taller man amongst the two. He wore a straw hat that covered his face from view. He wore a dark black colored robe, with red clouds drawn at random intervals. He had wore white pants, with blue colored sandals. On his back, hung a giant weapon, wrapped in bandages. The man wore a golden colored ring, with a yellow centre, on his left hand ring finger. The black colored kanji in the centre of the ring said 'South'.

"Yeah.", was the other man's simple reply. The man was shorter, however seemed more powerful among the two. He too, wore a straw hat and the same type of clothes the other man was wearing. He had a silver ring, with a red centre, that he wore on his right hand ring finger. Black colored kanji was etched into the ring's centre, which said 'Scarlet'.

"So should we go for the brat now, Itachi?", asked the taller man.

"No, we've missed our chance. Jiraiya is in town, so it could turn out to be troublesome. Also, Orochimaru failed to kill Sarutobi, another problem for us.", answered Itachi.

"That sucks, I was just about red to shred something up.", said the man in dangerous tone.

"Patience Kisame.", replied Itachi.

--

(Hokage's Office)

"Yo! Tsunade, gramps, what is it this time?", said Jiraiya, as he walked in.

"When are you leaving Konoha again?", asked Sarutobi.

"In around four days or so, why?", asked Jiraiya.

"We need to hold a meeting for the Yoinokuchi.", answered Sarutobi.

"Alright.", nodded Jiraiya.

"Well, since I'm here anyway, I might as well tell you both. I've decided to start teaching Naruto the sage arts.", said Jiraiya.

"Already?", asked Tsunade.

Sarutobi simply watched the exchange of words.

"Yeah, since the Akatsuki is after Naruto, it seemed a suitable thing to do."

"But it's dangerous! Especially with that toad oil thing that you have to use. He might not be able to control his transformation!", said Tsunade.

"Don't worry, I'm going to make him learn the old fashioned way. Without any oil. That way he won't be in any danger, and also it'll give me some quiet time."

"Well you'll just be wasting your time and his. What was the fastest anyone learnt the toad sage arts that way?", asked Tsunade.

"Two years.", answered Jiraiya. "But Naruto is a fast learner. And with his clones, training should go by faster. Though, it might still take him a little over a year. But that shouldn't be a problem, he'll be travelling with me for far longer that."

At this point Sarutobi decided to speak up, "Just how long will you be taking Naruto for?"

"Three years.", replied Jiraiya.

"Doe he know about this?", asked the old man.

"Yeah, I've told him already. He agreed. It's not surprising, seeing as how he is treated in this village.", said Jiraiya.

The old man sighed. "I tired my best, yet somehow managed to fail Minato. On top of that, Danzo doesn't seem to back down. He takes every chance to portray Naruto as a demon."

"Can't we just get rid off Danzo? I could assign the Yoinokuchi to assassinate him. That way, the boy's life might become slightly easier.", said Tsunade.

"Even though the Yoinokuchi technically doesn't exist, it still is an organization centered around fair play and justice. Though Danzo may be a bad man, we have no proof that he is. Hence, killing him would lower our standards to that of our enemy, the Akatsuki. Besides, the damage has already been done. Even if Danzo is gone, the seed of misinformation has already been planted. Naruto unfortunately will live the rest of his life, hated by his village.", said the man, feeling extremely sad for the boy.

The other two occupants shared the feeling. The boy had lived his life hated, for a choice he couldn't have possibly controlled. It seemed wrong, it was wrong.

"Alright, lets schedule a meeting for tomorrow. I want to meet these people.", said Tsunade authoritatively.

--

(A Konoha restaurant)

The rookie nine, all sat around a large table. They had decided to have a small reunion. With hectic lives as shinobi, it was very often that all of them had a day off, on the same day. However, with recent inactivity, due to re-building of the village, they had finally managed to get one.

Naruto sat between Shikamaru and Lee. Chouji sat on Shikamaru's other side. Sasuke had somehow managed to sit between Ino and Sakura, two fan-girls, that continued to make his day miserable. Neji sat next to Ten-ten, stoic as usual. The food in front of them was steaming hot, the drinks cold. All in all, they were having a good time.

"So lets talk about the coolest missions we've had so far!", exclaimed Ten-ten.

"Alright, Sasuke-kun and I…", Sakura paused to pointedly glare at Ino, "…had to save the princess of Waterfall! We escorted her back, managed to fight of a whole ANBU squad, but then Naruto went and got her killed. Though it's fine now, since Naruto's not part of our team anymore. It's just Sasuke0kun and me!" Sasuke squirmed uncomfortably in his seat as he heard the last sentence.

The girl had conveniently ignored the fact that the ANBU squad was fake, Naruto had done all the fighting for her, and she had contributed absolutely nothing, besides carrying the princess during the mission.

Naruto had gotten over the princess' death, and just ignored the stares he got from most of the ninja.

Ten-ten slowly nodded, "I see, sucks to be you Naruto."

"Heh. Not really.", replied Naruto with a grin as he continued to plow through his food.

"Alright, our turn.", said Ten-ten. "We had to recently save a group of people from these rogue ninja, that were holding them hostage. Lee and Neji both were awesome, as they fought the ninja off, while I managed to get the people to safety, without being noticed even by a single person.", said Ten-ten proudly.

"Wasn't there that one ninja that had seen you untie the hostages? I think you killed him didn't you?", asked Lee.

"Yeah, alright, maybe that one.", said Ten-ten.

"And wasn't there that other one, that…", Lee was stopped abruptly as a sandal hit him square in the face.

The weapons mistress calmly regained her posture, as the others sweat-dropped around her.

"Let's carry on. Who's next?", the girl asked.

Surprisingly enough the Nara decided to speak. What could've been exciting enough, for even Shikamaru to talk about? Every-one leaned closer to listen to the tale, even Sasuke and Neji wanted to.

"We had this mission yesterday, most probably the best we've had so far.", said the boy lazily. "Some old farmer needed help with harvesting his crops or something. But, another shinobi team, mistook our mission for their own. So we reached the farmer, and had nothing to do. We lay down in the fields for two hours straight, not doing anything.", finished the Nara.

"…", was the group's collective response. They should've expected something like that. Ino was about to speak up, but Ten-ten cut her off.

"One story at a time. Alright, that leaves you Naruto.", said Ten-ten.

"Wasn't I in the Waterfall one too?", said Naruto.

"No, you've been travelling separately from Sakura and Sasuke, so you count as a separate team.", explained the girl.

"Hmm, ok.", Naruto started his tale, but no one seemed to be interested in it.

"Well, about a fortnight or so ago, Jiraiya and me infiltrated the Sound village.", this caught everyone's attention. Orochimaru's village? Sasuke however, was most interested amongst them all, he wanted to learn something about the cursed seal on his neck.

"We managed to get in pretty easily, we killed two guards, and henged into them. Then we entered Orochimaru's hideout. Apparently he wasn't there that night, because I remember Jiraiya saying something about how the place wasn't reeking of blood. So we headed into one of his laboratories, and what we saw there was disgusting! He had small boys of every size, sealed in containers all along the room.", Sasuke felt a chill go up his spine.

"Yeah, I'm pretty sure that guy's a lolicon(pedo) of some type. So anyway, that was most probably the coolest mission I've had so far.", said Naruto lying. He didn't want to tell them about his higher level missions.

"Wow. So you really infiltrated Orochimaru's base?"

"Yup.", said Naruto, finishing off the food on is plate, taking a second helping, of.. everything.

The remaining ninja in the room gained some respect for the blonde, except Sasuke, who was too arrogant to respect another person, and Shikamaru who already had a brief idea about how strong his hyperactive friend really was.

The rookie nine enjoyed the rest of the meal, talking and laughing with each other. Naruto felt like he had a family.

--

(Later that night)

Naruto created the usual number of clones, as he started his training. Jiraiya was going to teach him the Sage Arts tomorrow. He figured that he'd better get prepared for them.

He ordered a batch of his clones to work on his wind based attacks. While he sparred with another bunch, using the tonfa.

After around three hours of training, Naruto dispelled the clones, he was able to do so without passing out now. He headed back to his apartment. It was late night, and he was sure that everyone in the world was enjoying their sleep.

--

(Sand village)

A pigeon flew in through an open window, carrying a white rolled up piece of paper, tied to its leg. It flew around in a circle and perched on the window sill. A pale white hand reached out for the bird, and untied the message. The bird quickly flew away.

The message was an odd one, it contained a very few words.

" Tomorrow, Den"

--

(Grass village)

A pigeon flew over the sleeping man's head and landed on his shoulder. The man reached out for the letter attached to its leg. He read it, and went back to sleep.

"Tomorrow, Den"

--

(Stone village)

A huge man sat in the dimly lit pub. He drank from the mug, and talked loudly to the smaller man sitting next to him. A small black bird flew in through the open doors of the bar and dropped a small note, attached to a rock, near the man. The man unraveled the note, as he threw the rock over his shoulder. He read the letter and passed it on to the smaller man next to him, who gave a wide grin.

"Tomorrow, Den"

--

(Wave village)

The silent man, roamed around the busy streets, staring carefully at the stalls around him. He had large black eyes and his hair was short and spiked. He wore a loose fitting shirt and baggy pants, that dragged along the dirty streets. He had a katana strapped onto his side, the sheath and grip, both white. A small boy, raven hair, wide smile, sat on the man's shoulders.

He saw the white bird fly above him, he quickly raised his hand and stripped the attached letter from the bird's claw. The bird continued to fly on, not having to land.

The man held the note an inch from his face as he stared at the writing. 'Tomorrow, Den"

--

(Rain village)

The man whistled a happy tune as he walked in the pouring rain. He had a black, tattered umbrella, held over his shoulder. It didn't seem to be doing any good, as rain freely fell through the holes, landing on the man's curly red hair.

He wore a white kimono, red sandals. He had his right hand stuck out of the kimono, his left one held the umbrella in place. A woman, slightly shorter in height ran behind him, holding an undamaged umbrella. "Benito-sama, use this umbrella please!", shouted the woman,

"Nah I'm fine. And don't call me Benito, Rika-chan.", replied the man in a cheerful tone.

"I'm sorry Kensei-sama", replied the woman. She too was a red head, but unlike the man her hair was longer and fell up to her shoulders. She heard strained flapping noises as she saw a black colored bird fly towards them. A small piece of rolled up paper was attached to its leg. She was about to tell her master, when she saw the bird fall to the ground.

"You can tell them my answer is no.", said the man as he continued to walk. He started to whistle again.

Rika ran up to the bird, which was dead, and quickly untied the note.

"Tomorrow, Den", it read.

"Kensei-sama are you sure? It's the first meeting, it would look bad if you didn't show up.", she asked the man worriedly.

"I.. Don't… Caare!", sang the man. "You can go if you like, on my part, Rika-chan."

The woman nodded, she knew it wasn't a request, "Yes, Kensei-sama."

"Good girl. And don't call me Kensei, Rika-chan.", said the man, whistling his tune again.

"I'm sorry Benito-sama.", replied the woman as she rushed to his side.

--

(Next Morning, Konoha)

Naruto woke up with a loud yawn, as his Ramen bowl-shaped alarm clock began to ring. He quickly finished his daily activities, and changed into his ninja clothing.

The rookie nine had been called by Tsunade, for a meeting. Naruto ran down the Konoha streets, as he finally reached the giant red Hokage tower. He saw the other eight genin standing in a straight line. Tsunade hadn't arrived yet, so he was safe. He quickly joined in the line, standing next to Shikamaru, who clearly showed signs of not wanting to be there.

Tsunade came out of the tower as she addressed the nine ninjas. "All right, as you know, the chuunin exams were called off preemptively. The judges however, had already decided on promotions, by the time of attack on Konoha.

There was only one boy that managed to make it to chuunin. Ten-ten sighed, having remembered her humiliating defeat at the hands of one of the sand siblings. Sakura and Ino, both had been eliminated during the first round, in what had been the most boring, stretched out cat-fight ever. Both started to pester Sasuke, completely sure it was him that qualified.

Sasuke too, was pretty confident he had won, an arrogant smirk etched onto his face.

"I congratulate Nara Shikamaru, who I promote to the rank of Chuunin.", declared Tsunade.

"NO!", yelled Sakura and Ino in unison.

"No..!", said Shikamaru, a few seconds behind the girl. "No, I refuse Tsunade-sama"

Tsunade's eye twitched at the boy, "What did you say?"

"Uh.. never mind. Thanks I guess.", said the boy as he received a green colored shinobi jacket from the older woman.

Chouji and Naruto congratulated the boy enthusiastically.

(An hour later, Konoha Forest Clearing)

After having congratulated the boys a couple of times more, Naruto quickly made his way to the forest clearing. He was supposed to meet Jiraiya today.

As he entered the clearing he saw Jiraiya already there, waiting for him.

"Yo Jiraiya-sensei. Sorry I'm late", said Naruto

"It's alright. Let's get started then.", said the man.

Naruto nodded his head, ready to learn.

"Alright, Sage Arts make use of three types of chakra. Spiritual, physical and natural. A normal ninja uses only two, spiritual and physical. What makes the moves a sage and a normal ninja perform, so different is the last type of chakra, Natural chakra. So to learn the Sage Arts, you need to learn how to control the chakra in you surroundings, the Natural Chakra.", explained Jiraiya.

"Okay, what do I do first?", asked Naruto.

"All you're going to have to do, is sit down right here, and meditate on you surroundings. Try to feel the chakra flowing in the environment. This may seem easy, but for a living thing to remain still for long periods of time, a huge amount of will power and concentration. It'll be especially difficult for you, due to your hyperactive nature. And don't worry if you can't feel the chakra even after a few hours. This process does generally take a huge amount of time.", said the sannin.

Naruto nodded as he sat down on the grassy forest floor. He made twenty clones, telling them to do the same.

"I'll leave you to it.", said Jiraiya, but the boy didn't seem to hear, he was concentrating on the forest around him. Jiraiya smiled at the boy and headed towards the Hokage Tower.

--

(Hokage Tower)

Tsunade waited impatiently for the two men to show up. There was a knock on the door, and it was pushed open. Jiraiya and Sarutobi walked in, serious expressions on their face.

"Finally. Let's begin.", said Tsunade. The hidden ANBU left the room.

Jiraiya took a seat, Sarutobi and Tsunade opted to remain standing. After a minute of silence a figure appeared in the room, followed by six others. Jiraiya narrowed his eyes, they were one member short, Kensei.

"Welcome to Konoha, I would like to give you a tour of the village but unfortunately I can't. Nearly all of you are supposedly dead in your villages and can't afford to be seen. However remember this office well, or as I earlier mentioned in the letters, the den. I am the Hokage, Tsunade. And these two are Jiraiya and Sarutobi", said Tsunade, greeting the new arrivals.

The gathered people nodded.

Sarutobi spoke, "Well then the first meeting of the Yoinokuchi is adjourned. Begin with introductions, reveal as much as you feel safe about. However remember that the people next to you are going to be your closest allies, from now on."

A huge man stepped up to the task as he began his own introduction. He was larger than anyone in the room. He wore the typical ninja attire, and had a huge double headed axe strapped to his back. " I am Kitaou from the hidden village of stone.", he said pointing towards the hitai-ate tied around his right bicep, "I like breaking things and getting into fights.", he smiled, revealing a couple of missing teeth at the back of his mouth.

He then pointed to the small man beside him, "This is my partner, Kira. He likes to fight as well, and is calmed by the sight of blood. He doesn't speak at all, I have never heard him since my two years with him. He is slightly crazy, but a good person in general." The smaller man just smiled at the gathering of people, his hands constantly fidgeting. He wore a tight white shirt, which looked suspiciously like a straight jacket. He also wore black pants and black sandals. He didn't seem to have any weapon.

"Welcome to Yoinokuchi, Kitaou and Kira.", said Tsunade.

"I'll go next.", said a feminine voice. The crowd turned around to look at the her. She wore blur shinobi pants, and a plain white sleeveless shirt, made of thin material, that made a couple of men in room, drool. She had two daggers strapped onto a belt, on either side of her hip. She had light auburn colored hair which fell halfway down her back and curled near the edges. She wore her hitai-ate loosely around her neck, it had the symbol for Sand drawn on it. She had ghostly pail skin and a pretty face.

"I don't have a name, at least not one I can remember. But I call myself Shiro(white). I'm from Sand. I don't like or hate anything.", she replied in a bored voice.

"Welcome to Yoinokuchi, Shiro.", said Tsunade.

"Muchuu(daze) your turn!", said the small boy, sitting on top of 'Muchuu'.

The man carrying the small boy had been looking around the office, focusing on mundane things, until he heard his name being called. "Yes sir.", replied the man in a whisper.

"Don't call me sir! Call me Bura!", said the boy, pulling back on the man's hair.

"I'll have to do this myself.", said the little boy.

"Yo! I'm Bura, and this is my friend Muchuu. We're from wave," he said pointing at the hitai-ate slung around the man's waist, like a belt, holding his katana in place.

At this point Kitaou, the huge Stone ninja, walked up to the dazed man, and said "Ah! Nice weapon. Mind if I take a look at it?", said the large man as he reached for the weapon.

A large CLANG was heard, as Kitaou held his huge axe in front of him, a pitch black katana pushing straight at its middle. Muchuu, had plunged his katana forward in the blink of an eye, "Y..yes I mind.", said the man in a whisper.

He seemed to be putting no effort at all as he held the much larger man at bay, staring at the ground, as if he were ashamed of something.

"Muchuu, down!", yelled the boy. "Yes, sir", whispered Muchuu as he sheathed his katana obediently.

"Stop calling me sir!", said Bura. "Yes, sir", replied Muchuu.

With a sigh Bura spoke again, "I'm sorry, but he gets really defensive about his katana."

"Heh, its alright.", replied Kitaou, as he sheathed his axe and headed back into place.

"We like to eat, train and Muchuu here likes to look at things for long periods of time. What we don't like, is people touching Muchuu's katana, Muchuu calling me 'Sir' and people who underestimate us!", finished of Bura.

"Alright then, welcome to Yoinokuchi, Bura and Muchuu. Don't worry, we wouldn't have invited you if we underestimated you.", greeted Tsunade.

As she turned around she saw Jiraiya chatting with a ninja that had settled down onto the seat beside him. The hermit was signing one of the perverted novels, which he was so famous for. "Jiraiya! What the hell are you doing!", shouted Tsunade.

Jiraiya immediately stopped signing the book. The man next to him spoke up, "Relax Hokage-sama."

Tsunade's temper seemed to rise, but she kept it under control. She wouldn't want to beat up her own comrade, at least not on the first day.

The ninja slowly stood up. He wore khaki shorts and a sleeveless army vest(those camouflage ones). His right arm had the ANBU sign tattooed on in red ink. A large, black wooden staff hung from the man's back, almost as tall as he was. "I'm Nemui(sleepy), and I'm from the hidden village of grass. I like the sky, I like to sleep and I like to dream and I like the Icha Icha Paradise collection.", the women in the room stared at him with killing intent, but he seemed to ignore them. "I don't like to fight and don't like to work too hard either."

"Hey why is your ANBU tattoo red? Shouldn't it be black?", asked Bura.

"Heh. That's cuz I felt like having mine done in red..", lied Nemui.

Muchuu who had taken to staring at the tattoo, whispered, "No. He's an ANBU captain."

"That's right. A black tattoo means you are or were ANBU, but a red one means you are, or were an ANBU captain. Welcome to Yoinokuchi Nemui.", said Tsunade.

Finally the girl in the black kimono was left to speak. Taking this as her cue, she spoke in her soft voice, "I am Rika. I am from the hidden village of Lightening. I am here on behalf of my master, Benito Kensei-sama. I like to work for my master and I don't like people that hate my master."

Tsunade and Jiraiya had frozen at the mention of the man's name. Sarutobi continued in Tsunade's place. "I welcome you to Yoinokuchi and to Konoha, Rika and Kensei.", said the old man.

"Well then, now that introductions are out of the way let me tell you something about Yoinokuchi.", said Sarutobi.

"As you know, there is an organization called Akatsuki that plans to use the power of tailed beasts to create chaos. Yoinokuchi was built mainly to stop these people, however it does also serve as a force of Justice. We will carry out assassinations and such on people who can't be gotten to, by fair means. However remember carefully that our targets are only those, which we have enough evidence on. Now, all of you will be arranged into groups of two. The Hokage will announce the groups shortly. If your group is to meet an Akatsuki group, you will not attack, unless you are absolutely sure of your victory or if the mission requires it too.", explained Sarutobi.

At this point, Tsunade once again took control of the situation, smiling at her sensei. "Thanks sensei, I'll continue from here onwards. The groups will be numbered,

Group 1.Kitaou and Kira,

Group 2. Bura and Muchuu,

Group 3. Sarutobi and Nemui.

Group 4. Rika and… Kensei ,

Group 5. Jiraiya and Shiro."

Jiraiya was dancing inside. 'I got the hot chick! I got the hot chick! I got the hot chick!', he thought to himself. "Hey, doesn't that make it ten people?", asked Jiraiya, slightly confused.

"No, Bura and Muchuu aren't both members, like you and Naruto, but they are powerful enough to be a team on their own. We only had one slot open, so we gave it to the stronger one, letting the other one become un unofficial member.", said Tsunade.

"Ah I see, so Bura's not a member then?", he asked Tsunade, pointing at the small boy on Muchuu's shoulders.

Tsunade smiled, "No, Muchuu isn't."

Jiraiya was shocked, "That little kid is a member?", he asked Tsunade in a hushed whisper.

"Yeah, and we promised not to under-estimate them. So don't.", replied Tsunade.

"I'm not underestimating them. Just the kid..", said Jiraiya, however decided to shut up when Tsunade showed him her fist.

"Alright, I shall assign you your first missions as Yoinokuchi.", said Tsunade, as everyone turned their attention towards her.

"Group one, Kitaou and Kira will head for the eight tailed demon carrier in the hidden village of Cloud. Observe the jinchuuriki only, do not make contact. When the Akatsuki come for him, that's when you make yourselves known. However, if you feel like picking up some bounties on the way, feel free too. Just make sure you don't let the jinchuuriki out of your sight.

Group two, Bura and Muchuu, you will be assigned with spying on Danzo, a council member of Konoha. He is also leader of the Root Division of the ANBU in Konoha, so be extra careful. If you are caught, I will not be able to back you up. You're not authorized to attack him, or any citizens of Konoha. You may defend if attacked though. You are to find some dirt on him, try finding out what his intentions towards Konoha are.

Group three, Sarutobi sensei and Nemui, you will head to the hidden village of lightening, where you will observe Yugato Nii, carrier of the two tailed demon. You too, will just observe her. Act only when the jinchuuriki is in danger.

Group 4, Rika. You will return to Rain and continue spying on Pein, along with your partner.

Group 5. Jiraiya and Shiro, you will head to Sand. The jinchuuriki for the one tailed demon, Gaara will have to be protected by you. He collaborated with Sound during the invasion, and caused a lot of damage. This is why you will not make contact with him at all. Even though Sand, blamed Orochimaru for ticking them into attacking us, you can never be too sure. Seeing as he is weakest amongst the tailed beasts, the Akatsuki might aim to attack him first. You will have to make haste.

All right, those are your first assignments, carry them out well, I'm depending on you. You will have no budget within which you can operate, since these missions are entirely unofficial. You may leave now, Good Luck!", finished Tsunade.

"Wait a second. Since this Kensei person is our leader, shouldn't we at least get to meet him?", asked the large Kitaou.

At this, Rika started to shuffle about as she pulled out a letter from somewhere in her kimono. She opened it and scanned through, "Ah here it is, master says that if someone should ask me about why I couldn't make it, I should tell them to go… fuck themselves.."

"WHAT WAS THAT?", shouted the enraged Kitaou. "HOW DARE THAT MAGGOT…"

He couldn't finish his sentence as Rika had flashed behind him, pointing a kunai at his back. "Don't threaten my master.", she said in a threatening voice, a complete contrast to her usual self.

"Enough!", shouted Tsunade. "There will be no fighting amongst members! Kensei will show himself when he wants to! Just leave it at that."

Both Yoinokuchi members backed off.

"Good, now go start your missions!", said the blonde Hokage.

The shinobi all disappeared, some through the door, the others just vanished in thin air. Jiraiya stayed behind, "Won't sensei be noticed if he leaves Konoha for such a long time?", he asked Tsunade.

"We have that planned. He's taking his vacation now, since that's what most retired ninja do.", Tsunade answered.

"About Kensei.. Won't he just add to our problems?", asked Jiraiya.

"He most probably will, but the old man trusts him, which is good enough reason for us to bare with him. Just keep an eye open at all times Jiraiya.", answered Tsunade.

"Alright. Enjoy your paperwork.", said Jiraiya as he disappeared in a cloud of smoke.

Tsunade sighed, "Paperwork.."

--

(Rain village)

Kensei lit a match and held it towards the cigarette hanging from his mouth, lighting it. He took a small puff and released the smoke through his nose, "Chuu, chuu", he muttered to himself, smiling at his reflection in the water puddle beneath him.

The heavy rain, pelting down on him, started to reduce in volume, as it slowed down to a light drizzle, then finally stopped, within the matter of a few minutes.

"Ah! And so it begins! The next chapter in the life of Benito.. no, Kensei. No, Benito sounds better, but Kensei sounds more frightening I suppose.", he rambled on to himself.

Seven figures approached the confused man. The night hid their faces from view.

"Anyway, the next chapter in the life of me! I shall call it Me vs. Pein.", said Kensei.

--

(Konoha Forest Clearing)

Jiraiya walked back into the clearing, to check up on Naruto. It had been three hours since he had left the boy alone.

He entered the clearing and saw the boy sweating profusely, still sitting in the same position he was earlier. The clones around him had dwindled in number, only two remained behind.

Jiraiya patted the boy's shoulder. "Ah, Jiraiya-sensei. What do you want?", asked Naruto.

"That's enough for today. You better get home now, it's gonna be dark soon and we need to leave early tomorrow morning.", said the man.

Naruto nodded, "Alright." He quickly dispelled his remaining clones and got up, " Where are we going this time?"

"We're going to be heading towards Sand.", said Jiraiya.

"Why? Didn't sand attack us?", asked Naruto.

"Yeah, but we're at peace for now. Also it's to help you continue with you training.", lied Jiraiya. He didn't want to tell Naruto about the other jinchuuriki, as things would get complicated.

Naruto accepted the man's answer and headed back towards his apartment.

"You can come out now.", said Jiraiya as Naruto disappeared from view.

Shiro appeared from the tree behind Jiraiya. "So that was Naruto?"

"Yup. We'll be travelling with him for some time now.", said the man.

"Hmm, he was sort of cute.", said the woman.

"Well, now that he's gone, that just leaves the both of us…", said Jiraiya as he turned around, but the woman had already camouflaged herself again.

--

(Next day, Konoha Main Gates)

Naruto was pretty familiar with this routine by now. He had his bag packed and hi weapons stocked up. He wore his black t-shirt and white, cargo three-fourths. He stretched his limbs, getting ready for the day of travel.

He saw Jiraiya approach, and waved at him. "Yo pervy-sage!", he yelled at the approaching man.

"Don't call me that you brat!", yelled Jiraiya defensively, he was in the presence of femal company.

He saw a woman next to Jiraiya. But he didn't recognize her. She was an attractive woman, even though Naruto didn't realize that.

Naruto had grown over the past few weeks, due to constant nagging from Kyuubi, and a healthier diet than his previous one. He had grown to about 5 ft 2", a good height for his age. He had let his hair grow, as requested by the Kyuubi, and it had started to fall on either side of the boy's face, from over the hitai-ate. In short, he was quite a looker himself, and the females in the village had started to notice. (P.S This isn't going to be a Harem fic. Cuz I've read a couple of awesome fics that started a harem, which ended up with them having to focus mainly on the romance and fangirl-ism of the story, completely messing up the plot. Basically, I'd like to give Naruto a harem, but I like my story enough, to not do so.. Though he might get some action with random chicks that die later on in the story. It may seem heartless, but it wouldn't have, if I hadn't just told you. Also, there will be innuendo.)

"Who's she?", asked Naruto.

"I'm Shiro, and I'm going to be travelling with you both for some time. Nice to meet you Naruto-kun.", said the woman, stretching her hand towards the boy.

"Yeah, what she said.", added Jiraiya.

Naruto shook her hand and noticed her hitai-ate. He quickly let go of her hand and jumped back, taking out a kunai from his weapon's pouch. "She's from Sand prevy-sage!", exclaimed the blonde.

"Damn it Naruto, stop calling me that! And I know which village she's from. You can consider her to be one of my informants.", said Jiraiya.

Naruto nodded and kept away his kunai. He bowed at the lady, and said, "I'm sorry about that."

"No problem.", replied the woman,. 'He's well mannered for a brat.', she thought to herself.

"Alright, now that introductions are out of the way, let's get going.", said Jiraiya.

The three ninja took off, jumping through the thin canopy of trees, accurately landing from branch to branch. They were travelling at high jounin speeds. The other two ninja could've gone faster, but it was Naruto's current limit. Besides, they'd be in the village in a day's time, it was good enough.

--

(Konoha East Gate)

Kitaou and Kira, quickly rushed past the gates, the chuunin guards didn't even catch their movements.

"Wonder what type of guy that eight tail jinchuuriki is.", said the larger man.

Kira just smiled back at him.

"Heh, yeah there's gonna be a lot of blood involved, if the Akatsuki decide to start something.", said Kitaou.

Kira simply held both his sides as he giggled insanely. (imagine a guy in a straight jacket trying to break free) He did a 360 spin in the air, landing perfectly on the next branch, not breaking his pace at all.

"You're an easy man to please.", said Kitaou, "But then again, so am I!"

Both men smiled, spirits high.

--

(Konoha South Gate)

"Gramps, you know the way to Lightening right?", asked Nemui.

"You're an ANBU captain and you don't know the world map by now?", asked Sarutobi, surprised.

"Khe, the thing is that I remember too much. I remember too many little details, you see I use an extra percent of my brain, than most people do. So if I had to go to lightening alone, I'd have to search my brain for the fastest path, but since you're here, I don't feel like going through the trouble. You get me?", said the younger man.

"Yeah.", said Sarutobi simply, the ninjas these days…

"Alright gramps try going a bit fast, cuz I don't want to have to travel like a jounin for the rest of my time with you.", said the lazy man.

"Heh kid, I don't think you remember who I am, cuz of that big brain of yours. I'm the former Hokage of this village.", said Sarutobi as he disappeared, leaving no trace.

'Ah… crap!', thought Nemui. 'This is gonna be troublesome.', he thought, using another lazy male's trademark dialogue.

--

(Konoha Forest)

Bura and Muchuu jumped from branch to branch, or Muchuu did at least. Bura sat on the man's shoulders. The female Hokage had told them that Danzo was in Waterfall for the weekend, doing something, even she wasn't sure what.

So they decided to head to Waterfall to check up on the man. Muchuu was travelling at ANBU speed. "Move faster Muchuu!", said the boy. "Yes sir.", replied Muchuu as he increased his speed to ANBU captain levels.

"The name's Bura!", shouted the boy. "Yes sir.", replied Muchuu.

"We would be moving even faster if you didn't have that bulky katana on you!", said Bura. "Yes sir.", replied the man, as he unhooked his katana and dropped it to the forest floor beneath, not sparing even a glance at the falling weapon.

The two things that mattered in Muchuu's life, were Bura and his Katana. Bura happened to be at a higher priority. If someone had asked Muchuu to drop his katana, Muchuu would have attacked the man/woman, however since it was Bura that asked him, he didn't hesitate to do so.

Bura saw the man drop the katana, as he kept on rushing. "No! Go back pick it up! I was just joking.", said Bura, he knew how precious the katana was to the man.

"Yes sir.", said Muchuu, as he quickly jumped off the branch he was on, using a tree nearby to rebound. The man landed on the tree's trunk, with both feet, and took off in the opposite direction, leaving a foot print in the tree. He slowed down as he reached his katana. He picked it up and headed back on course to Waterfall.

"I'm sorry about that Muchuu.", said Bura sadly. "Don't be.", replied Muchuu.

Bura smiled, his attitude changing completely in less than a second. Muchuu didn't speak much, but he was the boy's best friend, he understood him well.

"Hehe, you're my best friend Muchuu!", exclaimed the boy happily. "Yes sir.", replied Muchuu, a small smile on his face.

--

(Desert scene)

The three ninja had covered there heads with pieces of white cloth, as the sand blew directly into their eyes. Naruto regretting having chosen a black shirt, as it seemed to absorb most of the heat around him.

After hours of travel through the desert, they decided to set camp for a bit. The sandstorm was rapidly gaining speed and would soon become too dangerous to face.

They sat in the shade of a dune. Jiraiya went through some hand seals and said, "Kuchiyose: Gamaguchi Shibar"(Summon: Toad Mouth Bind)

Pink coloured, fleshy walls surrounded them. The temperature inside was cooler, relieving all three ninjas. As time went by, the silence seemed to grow. The atmosphere around the three ninjas was uncomfortable.

Naruto decided to end this. "So how's Sand like, Shiro-san?"

"Pretty much similar to this place. It's hot, dry and boring just like most of the other villages.", said the woman.

"Not a very patriotic one, as you can see.", added Jiraiya.

'**Kit go for it!'**, said the fox.

'Ah it's been quite sometime since I last chatted with you. Why did you have to spoil that? And what should I go for?', Naruto asked Kyuubi.

'**For her kit, for her. Jump her tonight!'**

'Don't even think about it ero-kitsune. She's from sand and could very well be an enemy. Even though Jiraiya seems to trust her.'

'**So what? She's hot! I mean look at her, or rather look at those!'**, said Kyuubi with a perverted chuckle.

Curiosity got the better of Naruto, he looked at the woman. Sweat had drenched her thin white shirt, which seemed to be nearly transparent. He looked lower, he could see the woman's breasts, cupped by her brazier. She was clearly well shaped.

'NO!', thought Naruto as he gazed away quickly.

'**Damn it kit! You could've given me a few seconds more!'**, shouted the fox.

'I'm surrounded by perverts…', sighed Naruto.

Shiro had caught the boy staring at her and had stuck her breasts out slightly, to toy with the blonde. However the boy had quickly pulled his gaze away, apparently going through some kind of internal conflict. 'He's a weird one.', she thought to herself, smiling at the boy's antics.

--

And there we have it. Chapter Seven.

I've left you with some happy thoughts, I hope.(the guys at least.)

I'm sorry it's a bit shorter than the others, mostly cuz i had to think of names, missions and different future scenarios for this one. Lol, i'm not lying. I did spend a considerable amount of time on finding good translations for their names, building specific personalities for them. Hope i entertained.

I'm too sleepy to rant on about anything today.

Read and Review. Thanks.

Later. Good night.


	8. Chapter 8 : Rage of a Lion

Chapter Eight – Rage of a Lion

Please read and review, thanks.

Disclaimer- Don't own Naruto or any other anime/games/manga mentioned in the chapter or story.

Been forgetting to put in that disclaimer, since chapter 4, but yeah it's been done now.

Got a couple of awesome comments yet again yesterday, for which I am grateful.

Also this chapter will be slightly longer to make up for the short-ness(don't think that's a word), of the last one.

Key-

"Normal Talking"

'Thinking/Mindscape talking'

'**Kyuubi Talking'**

"_Summon Talking"_

(Announcements concerning place and time changes. Also author ramblings)

--

(Hidden Village of Sand, entrance)

The three ninja stood a short distance away from the sandy village's entrance. The entrance consisted of two huge stair-shaped hills, with a narrow valley, that lead to the village.

"Alright, we've gone over the different formations, signals and possible situational threats.", said Jiraiya. "Remember, we aren't supposed to be here, and so you are not meant to be discovered. If someone does discover you, you will call me, so that I can erase his/her memories."

"You can erase memories?", asked Naruto.

"Yes, one of the many useful skills I've learnt from the frogs.", replied Jiraiya. "And most importantly, you will not kill anyone, unless it is absolutely necessary. Did you get that?"

"Yes.", replied Shiro and Naruto.

"Good, in that case, let's go with the arrow-head formation.", said Jiraiya. Naruto took his place, a little bit behind the man, to his right. Shiro took a similar position, to the man's left.

"Good. Let's go.", ordered Jiraiya as they rushed forward.

Jiraiya headed straight for the narrow valley. He saw that the guards were busy chatting with each other. He crouched down, and took a mighty leap, in a manner similar to many of his toads. He managed to reach high above the guards, where he used his chakra to stick to the surrounding hill, calmly walking his way into the village.

Naruto quickly leaped as he made it to the first level of stair like hill. He landed between two guards, which were conveniently looking away. Not wasting any time, he quickly scaled the next wall, to reach the second step. He peeked over the walls, choosing a suitable moment to break past the guards. He continued this process, until he had reached the top of the hill. He saw that the opposite side of the hill, was a perpendicular fall to the village floor.

Shiro activated her camouflaging jutsu, as she merged with her surroundings, turning nearly invisible. She walked climbed the first step, and quietly proceeded to the next one, stopping her movements when it was necessary. She easily evaded all the guards as she too reached the top. A perpendicular fall lay ahead of her. She took out a kunai and deeply embedded it into the sandy surface. She took out a rope from her weapons pouch and tied a firm knot around the embedded kunai. After she was satisfied with the arrangement, she tied it loosely around her waist and began to rappel down. The rope accommodated her light weight.

Naruto took out an old glove from his pouch. He didn't like wearing gloves, they restricted his hand movements, but he'd need them now. He quickly put the glove on and taking a small run-up, jumped down the cliff. He fell straight towards the earth, the wind in his face. He used his gloved hand, to make contact with the steep wall next to him. He slowly started to apply little bits of chakra to the hand, as his fall reduced in velocity. After a coupled of seconds, he seemed to be slowly sliding down the vertical plane, defying gravity. He slid down comfortably, and after a few more seconds, quietly made contact with the ground. He could have used a kunai to do the same, but it would've left an obvious mark on the wall.

He quickly took of the glove and put it back in it's place, as he headed for the rendezvous point. Shiro, having been part of the Special Forces in Sand, had drawn a map and explained the lay-out of the city. The ninja had agreed to meet in one of the run-down buildings near the western part of the city parameter, Shiro's home.

Naruto henged into a civilian as he proceeded through the busy streets. He noticed how the people around him had learnt to adapt to the torturous heat. They all wore thin shirts, and mostly white clothing. The people looked satisfied with their lives, kids played football happily on the dusty streets. Men and women alike had set up stalls, selling various items to the people around them. He smiled to himself, this may have been enemy territory, but it just didn't feel like it.

Jiraiya and Shiro had reached the tattered building. It had a distinct, old smell to it. The curtains had faded to a grayish color, due to long exposure to the sun. A single bed lay in the corner, made of a metal frame. The rest of the room looked pretty much the same, grayish walls, which helped keep the temperature moderated, moldy ceiling and a rusty fan that hang loosely from it. There was a small wooden desk in another corner of the room and a broken stove next to it.

"Welcome to my really humble abode.", said Shiro, in what seemed to be a sarcastic tone.

"You must like travelling.", stated Jiraiya.

They heard a knock on the door, as it was pushed open with a creaking noise. A small village boy walked in.

"Naruto?", asked Jiraiya.

"Oh right.", said the boy, as he turned back into Naruto. "Wow, cool place."

"Don't try to be kind, it's a dump.", replied Shiro as she sat down on the bed.

"He means it. You should have a look at his place.", said Jiraiya with a shudder. He had been to Naruto's place a couple of times, and had met homeless people that had a better lifestyle.

Shiro felt slightly shocked, but hid it well.

"Hey! At least I have a home!", said Naruto, angry that his apartment had been insulted.

"Alright, Shiro do you know any place nearby where Naruto can train?", asked Jiraiya.

"Yeah, there's this abandoned plot of land nearby. It's pretty large, but due to some giant termite or something, they left it alone. I've never seen the termite, he can train there.", replied Shiro.

"Alright lead us there.", said Jiraiya.

"Yosh!", stated Naruto, he wasn't afraid of some bug.

--

(Abandoned desert land)

Naruto sat down and began to meditate, while his clones trained their wind affinities. Jiraiya and Shiro had left him here an hour ago. They had to take care of something. Naruto didn't mind, he was used to training alone. He focused on his surroundings, but felt nothing. Not even a small stirring that could indicate his progress.

Then he felt it. A huge tremor, which racked his frame. He quickly opened his eyes. 'Is this it!? Have I succeeded!', he asked himself. He quickly stood up and looked at his hands, as if to find some sign of what he had managed to do. 'Wait, what's going on?', he asked himself as the ground underneath him shook. He looked around and saw a large black needle, as big as he was, stick out form underneath the ground, stabbing two of his clones.

He felt, whatever it was, approach him from beneath the ground, as it continued to decapitate his clones. He quickly dodged to the side as another, large, black needle shot up from where he had been standing. 'The hell is that?', he though to himself, as he took out a kunai and threw it at the needle. The kunai just bounced of the thing with a clang.

Naruto went to pick up the kunai, as another needle shot out from underneath him, piercing his shoulder. Blood started to fall, as Naruto slowly pulled himself up, getting free of the black object. 'Kyuubi, is there any major damage?', he asked as his wound began to heal rapidly.

'**No, it's not poisoned and it missed all major nerve centers. However I don't think…'**

'Haha! Alright, an opponent and I don't need to be cautious around!', cut in Naruto.

'…**I'm going to let you die if you fight it.'**, threatened Kyuubi.

'Ha! You can't do that.', replied Naruto confidently, Kyuubi knew he was right.

"Alright, show me your face you wuss!", shouted Naruto, as he pumped some chakra into his feet and stamped on the ground, creating miniature tremors of his own.

The creature, angered, suddenly shot up from behind the boy and engulfed him in one large gulp. Or at least it tried.

Naruto felt the creature approach, but was caught off guard as it erupted from behind him. He didn't have time to reach for his kunai, so he just held up both his hands, bent slightly at the elbows. The creature came crashing down. It looked like a giant centipede. It's mouth opened, to reveals thousands of razor sharp teeth.

Naruto crouched, readying himself. The creature fell towards him. Naruto felt some of it's teeth pierce the flesh on his hands. He grimaced slightly, and started to absorb the attack. His palms were wrapped around two of its teeth, they had started bleeding profusely, but Kyuubi kept healing the cuts. Several more teeth were lodged into his arm. Both, boy and centipede/termite thing were stuck in position. The creature couldn't close its jaw, as the boy was keeping it open.

Naruto held onto the creature's teeth, pumping chakra into hands, to prevent it from snapping at him. He had finished absorbing the attack, but that wasn't the problem anymore. The problem now seemed to be gravity. The creature, who weighed quite a lot, was slowly being brought down upon Naruto, thanks to the force of gravity acting upon it.

Naruto turned his head and released the energy. BAM, the creature flew backwards and landed a few feet away. Black blood fell from its mouth, as a couple of its teeth had been pried apart. Naruto surveyed the creature, the only damage it seemed to have received was to it's mouth. The thick, shining black armor on its back hadn't even been scratched.

'Ah, it may not be poisonous, but it has a really good defense.'. thought Naruto.

'**Yeah, there's always a catch. And pull those things out already, kit!'**, said Kyuubi.

Naruto looked down at his arms. Three of the creature's teeth were lodged in his right arm, and two in his left. He wiped the blood from his palms, and saw that his cuts had already been healed. Two more of the creature's fangs lay on the ground, the two which Naruto had pulled off with his hands. He picked one of them up and observed it. It was yellowish at the bottom, and sharply serrated on the sides. He applied pressure to it, but it showed no difference, it was made of really hard calcium. He smiled at the though that came to him next.

"Looking for these?", he said holding the two fangs in his left hand, taunting the centipede.

The centipede seemed to understand as it quickly charged at him again. It was really long, it's back was covered with thick black armor, and so was its under-belly. The armor was lined with two rows of long, black needle-like structures. It had around sixty pairs of legs and a set of three eyes adorned either side of its flat, black head. It opened its mouth to roar again, revealing the various missing teeth, the two feelers on top of it's head seemed to be going crazy.

The centipede approached the little human, intending to bite his head off. Naruto jumped into the air and launched the two fangs. They found their mark, piercing two of the creatures eyes. However, the boy didn't have time to rejoice. One of the centipede's feelers caught the boy in his stomach, bringing him down roughly to the ground. Naruto coughed up blood as he felt one of his ribs pierce his lungs. He gurgled blood and went stiff.

The centipede noticed the boy pass away and went to consume him.

'**All right. You're good to go. I've used up a considerable amount of my chakra to hurry up the healing, so the next few shots won't begin to heal for another minute or so. Make sure there's no fatality! Or you WILL die.'**. said Kyuubi.

'Thanks Kyuubi.', replied Naruto.

The rib had been pushed back into place, and the lung's surface quickly rebuilt. As the creature lowered its head to eat the boy, Naruto quickly rolled away. He got to his feet and pulled out one of the fangs from his right hand. He threw it at the creature, as it pierced its third eye. It was completely blind on its right side now.

However Naruto hadn't thought about the consequences of his action. The fang had stopped him from losing too much blood. As soon as he pulled it out, the blood freely began to fall to the ground, and without Kyuubi's healing, it wasn't going to stop.

'Shit! Didn't think of that.', replied Naruto.

The centipede had gone berserk, it couldn't see anything on its right side, the side where the human was attacking it from. It turned it's body a bit and fired the needles on its back.

Naruto heard the creature move and looked up to see a needle headed his way. He quickly ducked to avoid it. 'It can fire those things off! And they also rapidly re-grow!', though Naruto, as he saw the needles form once again on the centipede's back.

Another volley of needles was shot at him, which he quickly dodged. The centipede having had enough, charged at the boy again. It had turned around, so that its left side faced the blonde. It ran towards the boy, its multiple feet scuffling about on the ground.

Naruto prepared himself. He saw the centipede near him and saw its feelers shoot towards him. He quickly turned his body around to dodge it, but then felt a sharp piercing feeling in his left foot. He looked shocked, the centipede had fooled him. It had been aiming for his feet. The black feeler had gone through his foot and continued its way a small distance into the ground. Naruto couldn't dodge anymore.

Naruto went wide eyed as he saw the approaching mouth. He tried to jump backwards but fell on his back, his left foot holding him down. However, he had managed to dodge the creature's mouth, which snapped above him.

'Shit! This isn't good. It's got me pinned to the ground. How much time more Kyuubi?', the boy asked frantically.

'**20 seconds if you're lucky.'**, replied Kyuubi nonchalantly.

The creature reared its head, about to go for another strike. Naruto had no choice. He felt for a fang on right arm, and one on his left, he quickly pulled them out, opening up two more wounds, and launched the two projectiles at the beast. One of them found its mark, taking out another of the creature's eye. The other one was deflected by the second feeler.

The creature couldn't express how much he hated this little human. It brought down its second feeler, piercing the boy's upper right arm, completely pinning him down.

Naruto winced as he was pinned by the second feeler. His right arm, and left foot were stuck to the ground, making him unable to move. Besides this, he was feeling light headed, due to the blood loss.

The creature roared as it brought its head down for the final attack.

'**15 seconds kit. You're about to die. Better do something.'**

'Why are you so calm you damn fox? You'll die too!'

'**Yeah, I know. I've accepted my death.'**

'I hate you…'

'**My pleasure.'**

Naruto was desperate, he didn't know what to do. He could try using his elemental affinity, but he could only form it around solid objects.

'**How about the tonfa…'**, suggested Kyuubi.

'Oh right… my left hand is till free.', said Naruto with a sheepish chuckle.

'**HURRY UP!'**, shouted the fox, who had once again regained its will to live.

Naruto picked up his left hand, it was bleeding heavily. He ran his wrist along some of the blood from his shoulder. The tonfa immediately popped into view. They fell down on his chest.

He picked up the left one, his right hand was completely useless right now. "Sanctum, Alpha!", he yelled as he channeled the wind around him into the blade. He hadn't completely mastered the stage yet, as a slight distortion in the air, could be seen around the blades. The centipede brought its head down, Naruto swung his tonfa upwards.

The centipede's head seemed to stop a few inches away from the tonfa's surface. It struggled to push past, but the distortion in the air seemed to hold it back, scraping at its armor, trying to cut it.

Naruto could feel the bloodlust his tonfa were emitting, or maybe it was the wind chakra around them, he wasn't sure. He could feel it want to cut, want to rip, want to taste blood. He didn't know what to do, so he just held onto the tonfa, keeping the centipede from biting him.

'**You've begun healing. It should be around half a minute before you're back to normal. But, your smaller cuts should be done in around ten seconds or so.'**

'Alright, thanks.', said Naruto, his left hand was tiring fast.

Naruto told the blades to absorb energy from the creature, but they refused to.

'Why aren't they listening to me?', asked Naruto.

'**It's not like they're disobeying you. They just can't absorb any energy right now, as they're already channeling the wind chakra. So basically during this stage, you can't absorb any attacks.'**, said Kyuubi.

'That's alright, its way more powerful anyway.'

Naruto saw the wounds left on his arms finish healing.

'Alright! Time to get back in the fight.'

'**You're still pinned down…'**

'I know…'

'**NO!'**, yelled Kyuubi realizing what Naruto was going to do.

Naruto however ignored the fox, as he pulled on his right arm. The boy gave a large, painful scream as the feeler tore through his flesh. He had forcefully pulled his hand free, a large, deep cut left on its side.

His arm began to heal rapidly, as he slowly got to his feet. His left leg was still pinned, and his left hand was still held up, holding the centipede at bay. He thought about freeing his left leg the same way as he had his right arm. However he decided not to, it was too painful even with the healing process intact.

He bent his knees and picked up the other tonfa with his right hand. He could feel the wind start to gather around the weapon, as soon as he touched it. He stood back up and lowered his left tonfa. The centipede's head shot forward as soon as the boy lowered his weapon.

Naruto was expecting this, he side stepped as much as his left foot would allow him too. The creature's head flew by and snapped at the air beside him. Naruto brought up his left tonfa and ordered the wind around it to stretch as he swung it horizontally, parallel to the creature's head. Its remaining two eyes were shredded by the wind blade.

The creature roared in pain as it went completely blind. Naruto swung his left tonfa at the feeler stuck to his foot. The feeler was cut cleanly in half, as blood spurted out from the stub. The boy quickly pulled the remaining bit off feeler out of his leg and threw it aside. He retreated to a safe distance, as the centipede began to thrash around in agony.

"Alright lets end this.", said Naruto loudly.

The centipede heard the boy and angered, rushed at him once again.

Naruto smiled, as he began to twirl his tonfa. They spun around in his hands smoothly, not leaving his grip. Daily practice with the weapon had helped him master its use.

The wind around the blades started to rotate wildly, forming two miniature tornadoes. Naruto spun around 360 degrees, letting go of the tornadoes one by one at the approaching creature. "Tonfarin arts: Uzumaki Tornado.", he said grinning widely.

The creature heard a strange howling as a massive gust of wind hit it. It was lifted off the ground, levitating in the air for a couple of seconds, before another one hit it. Its armor did not break, but the small openings in it were exploited to their fullest. As the winds finally stopped, it fell to the ground with a giant thud, creating a small mushroom cloud of dust.

As dust cleared, Naruto saw the centipede twitching, blood pouring from every crevice in the armor. It twitched once, twice, and then twitched no more. Naruto sealed his tonfa and sat down next to centipede's corpse, leaning against the hard armor.

--

(With Jiraiya and Shiro)

The two ninja had rented an apartment right across the sand sibling's quarters. The redhead Gaara, seemed to have an unstable mind. He would clutch at his head every half an hour or so and cry out random sentences.

"He's staring at the village again.", shouted Shiro to Jiraiya, who was busy making himself a snack.

"Khe, things like this make me sad. Look at what an emotionless, empty shell of a human that boy has become.", said Jiraiya as he walked out of the kitchen, sandwich in hand. He saw the woman staring at him blankly.

"Uhm… no offense of course.", said Jiraiya, to the equally emotionless woman.

"Alright, time to switch watches.", she told the man as she walked into the bedroom.

Jiraiya sat down near the window for a few minutes. Not being able to resist his perverted tendencies, he decided to peek into the woman's room. He crept to the door silently, and turned the knob slowly. He opened the door slightly and saw a kunai sailing at him. He quickly shut the door as the kunai lodged itself in the wood.

He walked back to the window, sitting down on the chair, sandwich in hand. After a couple of minutes of observing the redhead jinchuuriki, he felt pity for the boy. He was shunned by his own siblings and used as a weapon against his will. He wondered if Naruto would've turned up the same, if Danzo had come to power.

He sighed as he continued to watch the boy, stare at the kids on the street happily playing with each other.

After an hour of keeping watch, he knocked at the woman's door and said, "Shiro, its you turn. I'm going to check up on Naruto now."

"Alright.", replied the woman from somewhere inside the room.

--

(With Naruto)

Jiraiya walked back slowly towards Naruto, enjoying the village view. However he decided to hurry up when he heard the boy screaming.

What he saw next shocked him to his core. A giant mutilated, centipede lay on the floor. Its back seemed to have been ripped apart, and a large puddle of black colored blood had formed underneath its corpse. He then saw Naruto standing on top of the thing, kunai in hand.

"What's going on here!", shouted Jiraiya.

Naruto looked up to see the man. "Ah, this thing came out of the ground so I killed it."

"… and what are you doing to it now? I can get you a woman to do that sort of stuff.", he quickly dodged the kunai that Naruto had thrown at him.

"ERO-SENNIN!", yelled the boy.

"Heh, so what are you doing?", asked Jiraiya as he walked up to the boy.

"This thing has really good armor, so I'm trying to make use of it!", said Naruto as he pointed at a large part of the centipede's armor, that he meticulously cut apart.

"Yosh! I'm done! It took me two hours to make this!", he held up his right hand, and showed the man a pitch black arm guard. It was strapped onto the lower part of Naruto's arm. It stretched from just above Naruto's wrist to an inch or two short of his elbow. "This way, when I absorb blows, I won't end up fracturing my arm!", explained the boy.

Jiraiya held up the boy's arm and tapped the armor with his knuckles, "Impressive. But isn't it heavy?", asked the man.

"Not for me it isn't!", said Naruto happily.

Jiraiya let go of the boy's arm, which immediately swung down and whacked his own side. "…"

"Fine, it's a little heavy. But, I'll train and get used to it.", said the boy happily.

"Alright, go back to the hideout when you're done training. I need to go back now.", said Jiraiya.

"Where are you going? What's this other mission you have?", asked Naruto, slightly suspicious.

"Hehe, are you worried I may be boinking Shiro-chaan?", said the man with a perverted grin.

"..never mind then.", said Naruto.

Jiraiya smiled and walked away, hearing the boy start his training again.

Naruto had quickly created a couple of clones and ordered them to start sparring with each other. He then quietly began to follow Jiraiya. He saw the man going into a building, and followed him in.

The blonde saw his sensei enter a room and could hear muffled voices of conversation. He knocked on the door. "Open up pervy-sage its me Naruto.", he yelled.

Jiraiya and Shiro both took defensive positions when they heard the knock. After hearing the boy, Jiraiya opened the door, a bit confused.

"What are you doing here?", said Naruto and Jiraiya at the same time.

"I was following you!", said Naruto.

"Ah, well you're not allowed to be here, we're on a mission.", said Jiraiya.

Naruto started to argue with the man and about ten minutes later Jiraiya gave in.

"So what are you guys doing?", asked Naruto curiously.

"Don't get you hopes up boy. It's only a reconnaissance mission for now. We're observing Gaara.", said Jiraiya.

"Gaara? Are you here to kill him?", asked Naruto.

"No, it's the opposite actually.", replied Shiro.

"Why?! Isn't he an enemy? He hurt Lee and attacked Konoha!", shouted Naruto angrily. "And besides that, he should be killed, so that demon inside him…", Naruto stopped as he realized what he was going to say, what he had already said.

Jiraiya and Shiro both decided to remain silent. Naruto cringed as he realized that he was no better than the people in Konoha. He had assumed the boy to be evil, without having ever met him. He hadn't seen the boy as a container, but the beast itself.

"Shit.. what am I saying.", he asked himself ,confused.

"Don't worry about it Naruto. It happens sometimes.", said Jiraiya encouragingly.

Naruto nodded sadly and went to sit beside the window, staring at the red head.

--

(Later that night.)

Naruto was still sitting besides the window, staring at the boy.

"Alright, Naruto you can go to sleep, I'll keep watch now.", said Jiraiya.

"No pervy-sage, its okay.", he said in a sad voice. He felt he had to make it up to the boy somehow.

"Alright, knock yourself out.", said Jiraiya, glad to be relieved off his duty, heading for his bedroom.

The ninjas had relocated to the apartment, since Naruto had found out about the mission.

Naruto stared at Gaara. He saw the boy close his eyes, but not for more than a few seconds. A few hours later Naruto fell asleep against the window. When he woke up next, it was early morning.

Gaara was pacing around in his room, clutching his forehead. He hadn't slept the whole night. Naruto felt sad as he had an epiphany. He realized that the boy across the street was just like him. He had eyes just like his, ones that held sorrow and pain. He realized that Gaara was the same boy he was, only having grown up under different circumstances.

The boy had no precious people, they had all abandoned him. He had no teachers, friends and no family.

Naruto continued to contemplate this fact. He heard yawning as Jiraiya walked out of his room, stretching.

An hour later, Jiraiya, Shiro and Naruto sat in the room, eating their breakfast. "Why don't we go say something to Gaara today?", asked Naruto.

"No. We are under strict orders not too.", replied Jiraiya.

"But…", tried to argue Naruto.

"No.", said Jiraiya simply.

Naruto however, had his mind set.

--

(Waterfall)

Muchuu walked through the streets at a leisurely pace. He was focusing on.. almost everything. His large black eyes scanned the stalls, the busy streets and the people's faces.

"Muchuu, I heard they let Danzo stay at the guest mansion in the Castle. We should head there.", said Bura. "Yes sir.", replied Muchuu as he headed for the castle.

"Don't call me sir", came the familiar cry of the boy. "Yes sir.", replied Muchuu.

They reached the castle within a couple of minutes. "Ah look there! Its Danzo.", said the boy, pointing at a window. He was comparing the man's face, to a picture he was holding. "Yup that's him.", the boy confirmed.

Muchuu looked at the castle structure carefully, observing the different balconies and walls that made it. "Have you found a way up?", asked Bura. After another second or so, the man replied, "Yes sir."

"Alright lets go!", said the boy, tightly holding onto the man's spiky white hair.

Muchuu ran towards the castle, and using his feet to push of a wall, quickly propelled himself into a balcony. He grabbed onto the balcony railing and jumped off. Bura was enjoying himself thoroughly, the wind in his face.

Muchuu landed on top of a trampoline-like material, which launched him even higher into the air. His velocity slowly decreased until he began to fall again. He caught onto another balcony railing and stopped his fall.

The balcony was really close to an adjoining wall. Muchuu used the railing to launch himself off the balcony, towards the wall. He quickly held a leg out and pushed off the wall, propelling himself towards the balcony railing above him. He quickly latched onto the railing and proceeded to repeat the process until he was a single balcony below Danzo's.

Muchuu was a master at parkour(It's a type of running style that people have, its sorta difficult to learn, but looks awesome and helps you get to places way faster. Check on youtube for parkour videos, you won't regret it.), and hence had easily managed to pull this off without using any chakra.

"Muchuu I can feel some ANBU on that balcony.", said Bura. "Yes sir.", said Muchuu as he quickly started to go through some hand seals. He finished off and then tapped himself and the boy sitting above him with a finger, as both of them disappeared from view.

"Ooh, I can't even see myself now Muchuu.", said the boy. "Hold on.", said Muchuu. He sensed four ANBU and knew that as soon as they stepped onto the balcony, they'd sense him as well.

He stood on top of the railing and lunged at the wall. Using his foot he shot forth from the wall, and towards the railing. He gripped tightly on the railing's metal bars, the ANBU had sensed him. His back was facing the railing; he swung his legs back once, twice, and then swung himself onto the balcony, spreading his legs and knocking out two ANBU in less than a second. The ANBU were invisible, as was he. However both parties could sense each other. Muchuu heard the ANBU on his left take out a blade and rush at him. He quickly unsheathed his katana and dodged the ANBU. He struck behind the man's neck with the hilt of his sword, knocking him out. He quickly lifted the katana again, blocking an incoming strike from the last remaining ANBU.

He tried kicking the man, but the ANBU blocked him with his hand. "It's a captain.", said Muchuu. "Alright! We can enjoy ourselves for a bit then!', said Bura.

The ANBU captain came into view, removing his camouflage. The man wore a giraffe shaped mask, and had a red ANBU tattoo on his left arm.

"Aren't you going to remove your disguise?", asked the man.

Bura looked inside to see Danzo had entered the bathroom. He signaled that it was okay to speak.

"No.", whispered Muchuu. "No you idiot giraffe! Otherwise you'll find out who we are!", replied Bura.

The captain didn't reply, opting to lunge at the invisible enemy with the ANBU katana. Muchuu held the katana parallel to himself, blocking the captain's blade.

Muchuu was staring at the captain, observing his movements, as he effortlessly dodged. "You found anything yet Muchuu?", asked Bura. "No sir.", replied Muchuu.

The captain was getting irritated, he couldn't seem to hurt the man.

"Muchuu can't you do your dance and finish this already?", asked Bura impatiently.

"Not enough space.", replied Muchuu. "Found it.", he added in his low voice.

"Alright! Lets do this!", shouted Bura. "Yes sir.", said Muchuu as he leapt forward.

The ANBU captain narrowly dodged the katana as it sliced past his right. He blocked another strike from the invisible man, sidestepping to his left. He heard the invisible man's katana coming for him, and jumped to his left again. "Is that all you can do?", asked the captain arrogantly.

"No.", replied Muchuu as he kicked the man straight in the gut. The captain had tried to dodge but couldn't as he was directly next to the balcony wall. 'They were cornering me!', though the captain surprised, as the invisible man struck his neck, knocking him out.

"Good job Muchuu, lets tie them up! I'll help!", said Bura. "Yes sir.", said Muchuu as he lowered himself to a squatting position. The boy jumped off the man's shoulders, onto the balcony floor. They tied up the knocked out ANBU squad and slowly lowered them to the balcony below.

"Ah! There he is!", said Bura in a whisper as he pointed to Danzo walking out of the bathroom. Muchuu nodded. Infiltration successful.

--

(Sand village)

Night had fallen and Jiraiya and Shiro had gone to sleep. Naruto had opted to stay on watch again. An hour after the two ninja had gone to sleep, Naruto quietly slipped out of the apartment.

He walked across the street and headed towards the red-haired boy's floor.

He counted the apartments and after having made sure he was in the right place, knocked on the door. There was no answer for a few minutes. Then, the door slightly opened, Gaara stood behind him.

"Hey Gaara, follow me.", said Naruto in a whisper.

"Who are you? What do you want?", asked Gaara in a dead voice.

"I'm Uzumaki Naruto, I'm the jinchuuriki for the nine tailed menace.", said Naruto.

Gaara's eyes widened, "You're a jinchuuriki too? Then why do you look so happy?"

Naruto felt pity for the boy, the only person in the world that had suffered more than him. "Follow me and I'll answer all your questions."

Gaara nodded as he slowly left the apartment. They walked onto the street and headed towards the place, where Naruto had beaten the giant centipede. "So what do you want to know?", asked Naruto.

"Why are you here?", asked Gaara.

"On a mission.", said Naruto.

"Why do you look so happy, even though you have that thing inside you?", asked Gaara.

"Because I have precious people that helped me become happy.", answered Naruto the best he could.

"What are precious people?", asked the redhead, slightly interested.

"People that you care about, enjoy being with and want to protect, even if they don't care about you in return.", answered Naruto.

Gaara was slightly confused. 'How.. how do you get these precious people?"

"You don't get them, you sorta find them.", answered Naruto the best he could.

The redhead suddenly clutched his hair and shouted, "No mother, no, Gaara's a good boy!"

After a minute the fit seemed to pass. Gaara looked paler than ever.

Naruto was worried at what the demon was doing to the boy.

"Gaara why do you call the demon your mother?", asked Naruto.

"Because it is her!", replied Gaara in a slightly defensive voice.

"No it's not. It's just trying to fool you into believing that you need it.", said Naruto.

"LIAR!", screamed Gaara.

"I'm not lying!", shouted back Naruto. "You don't need the demon to live."

"Y..yes I do! I need it to protect myself, to.. to gain power! I don't need anything besides it!", yelled the possessed Gaara.

"Then I'll prove it to you. Prove to you that you don't need him.", said Naruto.

"**And how do you intend to do that boy?"**, said an unfamiliar voice from the redhead's mouth.

'**That's Shukakau, the ichibi(one tailed beast). It can take over the boy's body, which means that it can manipulate him as well.'**, said Kyuubi.

'So you mean…'

'**Yeah'**, cut in Kyuubi, **'It's most probably the reason why the boy is so psycho. It's been driving him insane. The black marks around his eyes are due to insomnia, Shukakau must be pestering him even in his sleep.'**

Naruto grew angrier every passing minute that Kyuubi explained Gaara's situation, 'Kyuubi, you're not going to let me use any of your chakra in this fight. Which means, no healing as well.'

Kyuubi would've argued, but he could feel the boy's rage, and knew he wouldn't win the argument.

"I intend to do that by kicking your ass.", said Naruto, his words were lined with hate.

"**Haha! Try it brat."**, said Shukaku(I'll be referring to him as Shikaku for now, not Gaara). He rapidly started to transform, the sand around him covered him, sticking to the boy's body.

Naruto bit his thumb and swiped it across his wrist. He grabbed the tonfa and channeled wind into them. He pumped some chakra into his legs and rushed at the demon. "Sanctum Alpha", he muttered under his breath as he approached the transforming boy. He slashed his tonfa at Shukaku as the sand was cut cleanly in two. However it quickly began to reform, as if nothing had happened.

Naruto slashed again, this time, Shukaku retracted the sand, as the wind blade cut through Gaara's shoulder.

"**HAHA! Are you going to hurt the little brat? Isn't he the one you're trying to save from me?"**, laughed Shukaku.

Naruto couldn't speak, the rage inside him made it impossible too. 'That bastard let Gaara get cut to save his own ass…'

'**Yeah well he always was the cheapest one amongst us'**, said Kyuubi.

Naruto didn't hear, he was close to attacking the demon bare-handed, just so that he coul feel the bastard's bones crack in his grip.

Shukakau had finished his transformation, he stood at thirty feet tall. Naruto however didn't care. It just meant there was more for him to beat up. He went through some hand seals and shouted, "Kuchiyose no Jutsu: Gamabunta."

The giant red frog boss appeared in a huge cloud of dust and smoke. He waved a red colored limb around, to get rid of the floating particles. He turned around to see Naruto standing beside him. He picked the boy up and placed him on head. _"Ah so we meet again Na…"_

"Him. Dead. Now.", said Naruto cutting off the giant frog, as he pointed at the giant raccoon in front of him.

Gamabunta spotted the raccoon, _"Ah Shukaku. Yeah sure, I'd like to kick that bastard's ass too."_

Naruto nodded and spoke again, "Every time he attacks, I want you to make sure that his blow is directed at me. You get that?"

"_I know you humans tend to get arrogant, but I didn't know you could be so stupid at the same time! One blow from him, will mean your death and a really bad hang-over for me tomorrow!"_, said the frog.

"Just do it.. please.", said Naruto.

"_Pfft, whatever, it's your life after all."_, said the giant frog. _"Should we start with the toad flame bullet?"_

"No, I don't know any fire Jutsus.", said Naruto.

Shukaku had gotten tired of waiting. He ran towards the giant frog and released a giant ball of wind at the two. Naruto stood on top of the frog, waiting for it to dodge. The frog stood still, waiting for Naruto to counter it.

As the ball moved closer Gamabunta realized the human wasn't going to do anything. He quickly released a compressed ball of water, which collided with the incoming attack, rendering it useless.

"_Kid! What the hell are you doing? STOP THOSE THINGS!"_, shouted the frog as Shukaku fired off some more shots. The frog countered three of them with his own water ball. He had to dodge the last one, which went and hit an abandoned building, completely obliterating it.

"What am I supposed to do? This part is your job!", yelled Naruto.

"_You're a freaking wind user! Control them! Stop Shukaku from destroying the city!"_

"Oh.. I didn't think of that.", said Naruto truthfully.

Gamabunta ran towards the raccoon, unsheathing his dagger.

Shukaku quickly fired off three more shots, when he saw the frog approach him. Gamabunta managed to stop two of them, the third one flew by, heading towards a building, which looked inhabited.

"_Stop it kid! Those people will die if you don't"_

Naruto focused on the wind around him, trying to differentiate between the wind near him and the wind that Shukaku shot out.

'**Use the tonfa to help you, you fool!'**, shouted Kyuubi.

Naruto listened to the fox and focused on the tonfa. He could immediately feel the giant ball of wind, as if it were a part of him. He waved the tonfa, and the ball disappeared, the winds were sucked into the tonfa, increasing the power of the wind blade.

'Awe..Awesome!'

'**Kit, why don't you get it? The tonfa are meant to channel chakra, which means they can sense chakra! Since they let you channel wind chakra, it means they too are sensitive towards wind natured chakra. These weapons are a lot older than you. There is no shame, in asking for their help!'**

'Yeah, I get it.', said Naruto gingerly.

"_Good job kid, now let's kick that raccoon's ass."_, spoke Gamabunta.

"Yeah, lets do this.", said Naruto.

Gamabunta had reached Shukaku. He slashed at the demon with his dagger, but Shukaku blocked it with his tail.

"Tonfarin Arts: Uzumaki Tornado", came a shout as two swirling masses of wind shot at the demon, blowing a part of his side away. The sand in the environment, rushed in to fill the gap.

"**Haha, it doesn't matter how much you attack me, with all this sand around me, I'm invincible!"**, gloated Shukaku.

Gamabunta lunged his dagger forth once again, Shukaku simply let it pierce him, then using his sand, snatched it from the giant frog. He threw away the blade and aimed a punch for the frog's face.

Gamabunta hesitantly turned his face down, letting Naruto receive the full force of the blast. Naruto grinned as he used the arm guard on his hand to prevent any injuries, at the same time absorbing the attack.

"Haha, thanks Gamabunta-san."

Gamabunta was slightly shocked that the kid wasn't dead. He smiled, the boy never failed to amaze him.

Shukaku was slightly angered that the boy hadn't died, further more, he wasn't able to crack the boy's arm-guard. He continued his attack on the blonde boy, who kept absorbing the energy.

Shukaku backed away after a couple of blows, not able to figure out why the boy was still alive.

Naruto was slightly nervous, he had never stored this much energy in his body, and was afraid that it might explode. He saw the raccoon retreat and knew it was his turn to attack.

"Gimme a boost.", shouted Naruto at Gamabunta. The boy started to run down his head, towards the Raccoon.

Gamabunta figured out that the boy was charging towards Shukaku, but couldn't figure out why. Deciding to trust the boy, he brought up his hand and flicked the boy with a finger.

The sudden boost sent Naruto flying towards the raccoon at insane speeds. He deactivated the Alpha stage. (he can't channel energy thru if he has it activated, remember?) Channeling the energy through his tonfa, he got ready to strike.

Shukaku brought up a hand in defense. Naruto swung his right hand tonfa in front of him, and inches away from the massive, sandy paw, he let go of all the energy in it. "Tonfarin Mixed Arts: Oblivion, Part One!", he shouted. The energy released by the boy was unbelievable, a huge sphere of whit and blue struck the raccoon's hand, instantly turning the sand into glass, as it fell sparkling to the floor. The boy's momentum had not reduced one bit.

His shirt fluttered as he shot towards Shukaku's head. A blur of black and yellow could be seen. Shukaku saw it too, but didn't have enough time to defend himself.

Naruto grinned, although the wind mutilated his face into something that resembled a failed work of art. When Naruto saw Shukaku raise his hand, he immediately split the energy between both the tonfa, though he gave a larger portion of it to his left hand one, as it would need it more.

He brought his left hand tonfa up, and released the remaining energy, "And Part Two!". There was a massive flash that seemed to light up the whole night sky. People awake at that moment, would have easily mistaken it to be early morning.

The pipe in Gamabunta's mouth dropped to the sandy floor, _"Ho..Holy shit!"_, stuttered the giant frog.

The energy released from the tonfa shot out towards Shukaku, taking the shape of a large, pale-blue colored lion, which swiped at the raccoon, instantly beheading it. The cut seemed to catch fire. A bright-white colored flame spread throughout Shukaku's, now headless body, burning the sand.

The flame had also started to burn the raccoon's head, which was now falling towards the earth. It burned the sand, leaving Gaara untouched.

Gamabunta had no idea what was going on, he quickly caught the redhead and the blonde, and set them down, safely on the ground, after which he disappeared. Apparently, Naruto had run out of chakra.

Gaara woke up, finding himself lying on the ground. He tried to move but his muscles wouldn't let him. He saw the blonde lying next to him.

'I..is he dead? Di..did I kill him?', Gaara asked himself. For once, Shukaku didn't reply.

"I.. I killed him.", said Gaara to himself. He was feeling sad for some reason, as if the death of the blonde ninja affected him as well.

"Heh, like you could ever beat me! I am Uzumaki Naruto, next Hokage of Konoha! None of the other Hokage would've been beaten by that damned raccoon, why would I?", shouted Naruto happily. He couldn't move either.

"You beat it?", asked Gaara.

"Yeah, and without any help from the demon inside me!", said Naruto.

Gaara remained silent.

"The difference between me and you, Gaara, is simple. Al my life I lived alone, hated by the village, not knowing what I had done wrong, just like you. But then I found friends, precious people that I could call my family, even though they weren't related to me by blood. Gaara, can I be your friend?", using his will power to move his hand towards the redhead.

Tears escaped a confused Gaara. He didn't remember this feeling. The feeling of being happy. He controlled the sand around him, forcing it to move his hand. The two boys shaked, signifying the start of their friendship.

After an hour of lying in the sand, the two boys seemed to be getting impatient.

"Did no one notice all of that racket we created?", asked Naruto, still unable to move.

"I didn't imagine, I'd die like this…", said Gaara slowly.

Naruto smiled, Gaara was learning to interact.

Gaara looked around him and noticed a strange sight a few feet from them. Pieces of sand clumped together, were burning with an odd white flame. "Uzumaki-san, what is that?"

Naruto too looked up and saw the flames, "I'm not sure, but after my last attack, the sand that was surrounding your body, started to burn with that weird flame."

Gaara nodded, tried to. "Can I keep it? To remind me of today."

"Yeah sure.", replied Naruto.

Another two hours later, the sun had begun its daily ritual of heating up the desert to unbearable temperatures.

"How do you stand this weather?", asked Naruto.

"I have an armor of sand that surrounds my body and keeps it cool…. Speaking of which.. I can use it to get back home. Goodbye Uzumaki Naruto-san, it was nice meeting you.", said Gaara as the sand around him lifted him up and carried him away.

"NO! Take me too! Damn it, Gaara get back here!", shouted Naruto. But the boy had already left.

'Wake up Kyuubi, wake up. Wake up, wake up, wake up, wake up.', chanted Naruto.

'**LET ME SLEEP CHIBI!'**, shouted the fox.

'..no. I need you to ask Sanctum something.'

'**What is it?'**, asked the sleepy fox.

'Ask them about what the hell that last attack was.'

After a minute of silence, Kyuubi replied. **'The brothers are telling me that you subconsciously used your wind alignment to shape the energy into what your emotions at that time represented, i.e. the rage of a lion. Like I told you before, shaping energy helps concentrate the power, which is most likely the reason for the flames as well. They aren't too sure about it themselves, but they tell me that it's been around 400 years or so since one of their masters could do that. Also, that flame represents something about you, and will continue to burn, as long as you have that something within your soul.'**

'And that something would be?'

'**They won't tell me, and I really don't care. Let me go back to sleep.'**, said the fox as it fell silent again.

--

Ta-da-da!

Yeh, so I've managed to build up the relation between Gaara and Naruto. Gaara was always one of my fav characters, despite the small amount of air time he gets, but then again so do all my fav characters. Shikamaru, Gaara, Jiraiya

Anyway I hope you liked it. There should be Akatsuki goodness in next chapter.

Today's songs are Plug-in Baby by Muse and Gekidou by UVERworld(jap song, current d.gray man theme).

So until then. Cya.


	9. Chapter 9 : Akatsuki

Chapter Nine – Akatsuki

Please read and review, thanks.

Disclaimer- Don't own Naruto or any other anime/games/manga mentioned in the chapter or story.

Once again thanks for the reviews, especially slayereyals, who's been reviewing nearly every chapter, giving me helpful tips, suggestions and the likes.

Oh and before people start asking me why I'm hurrying up the Akatsuki arc, let me get it straight. As you know, Akatsuki move only every 3 years. In the original anime and manga, Itachi and Kisame moved for Naruto after Orochimaru's attack. But, they failed so had to wait 3 years to attack again.

In my story, Itachi and Kisame backed off, since Sarutobi and Jiraiya both were present in the village. Hence, they still have to make their move.. and so, voila.

So, let's start this up then.

Key-

"Normal Talking"

'Thinking/Mindscape talking'

'**Kyuubi Talking'**

"_Summon Talking"_

(Announcements concerning place and time changes. Also author ramblings)

--

(Early Morning, Sand village street)

"Ow! Easy pervy-sage! I'm injured you know!", shouted Naruto, being unceremoniously dragged along the street.

"You should've thought of that before you endangered yourself and your teammates, disobeyed orders, again and blew our cover in one night itself.", replied Jiraiya, angry at the blonde.

"What about you? Won't you say something?", the boy asked Shiro.

Shiro remained silent, continuing to read the book she was holding in her hands.

Jiraiya proceeded to drag the injured boy towards their apartment. "So what do we do now? We'll most probably be discovered by the end of the day. We should get packing.", said Jiraiya.

"No, don't worry about it. I told Gaara not to tell anyone about us, in return for me helping him out. Also, I haven't told him that we're here to protect him. I just told him we were here on a mission given to us in Konoha.", said Naruto, lying at Jiraiya's feet.

Jiraiya sighed, "That's a relief. Though you still won't be allowed to leave the room for a week Naruto."

Naruto chose not to make any promises.

A white pigeon flew up to Naruto, sticking out its leg, a small piece of paper attached to it. Another one landed on Jiraiya's shoulder. Jiraiya quickly took the paper from the bird, and it flew away. "Uhm.. sensei could you take that for me?", asked Naruto, still not able to move.

Jiraiya untied Naruto's message from the bird and pocketed it. "Let's go up first."

He held Naruto by the collar and proceeded to drag him up the stairs.

"AAAH! I CAN FEEL MY SPINE CRACKING!", shouted Naruto as he bumped along the stairs.

The sannin and screaming boy were followed by Shiro, still engrossed in her book.

After a few flights of stairs and wails of agony from the blonde, they reached their apartment. Naruto was put on a sofa as Jiraiya sat across the room on a chair. Shiro had gone into her bedroom.

"Alright, let's see.", said Jiraiya as he unrolled the piece of paper and quickly began to read it.

After a couple of minutes, Jiraiya put the paper back down, a sad expression on his face. "Orochimaru has a hold of Sasuke."

"What?! That bastard kidnapped Sasuke? We have to save him!", shouted Naruto, wiggling around on the sofa.

"No that's not it…", said Jiraiya sadly, as he slowly continued, "..Sasuke left Konoha and joined Orochimaru by his own will. It says your friends, Sakura, Kiba, Shikamaru, Shino, Chouji pursued Sasuke. But, they were stopped."

Naruto knew Jiraiya was hiding something from him, "What else pervy-sage.. How are they?"

Jiraiya sighed, "Sakura, Kiba, Shikamaru, Shino had minor injuries but are fine now. Shino was in critical condition, but was saved by his dad."

"And Chouji..", asked Naruto, quickly picking up the missing name.

"He's in the I.C.U right now. They aren't sure he'll make it.", replied Jiraiya, avoiding eye contact with the boy.

"We're going back to Konoha.", said Naruto.

"We can't abandon our mission.", replied Jiraiya.

"No, we have to now. We also need to save Sasuke.", said Naruto.

"No! You will not make the same mistake I did Naruto. Let him go, he isn't worth the time.", said Jiraiya sharply.

"I know.. I need to find Sasuke, since I was his teammate once, and so it's my responsibility now. But, after I do find him, I'll make sure I break every single bone in his body, for hurting Chouji.", said Naruto, his anger flaring once again.

Jiraiya sighed, at least the boy had some sense. "I'm sorry Naruto but we can't leave here. If something happened to Gaara…"

Naruto knew Jiraiya was right, which made it even worse for him.

Jiraiya changed the topic, "Alright then. You can rest for now, and keep watch on the boy from tomorrow onwards."

"Sensei, you forgot to read your message.", said Naruto as he closed his eyes, fatigue getting the better of him.

"Oh right.", said Jiraiya as he pulled out his note. "WHAT!?", shouted Jiraiya.

Naruto quickly woke up again, turning his head towards his sensei. "What is it?"

"Danzo's planning to attack Konoha in less than a week!", shouted Jiraiya. "Shit.. I wasn't supposed to tell you that.."

"WHAAAT?! WE NEED TO GET BACK TO KONOHA!", shouted Naruto, the damage had already been done.

Jiraiya knocked at Shiro's door and waited for a reply. A few seconds later Shiro walked out, her backpack slung on her shoulder. "Yes, I heard, let's go.", said the woman.

Jiraiya nodded. He quickly ran to his room and a second later came out with his stuff as well.

"Hey! What about me?", asked Naruto.

"Right, I forgot about you. Naruto, you will stay here and guard Gaara, you're capable of it. If you see the Akatsuki, send me a message using the frogs.", said Jiraiya hurriedly, as he searched for something within his belongings.

"No! I'm coming too! And I don't even know what the Akatsuki look like.", shouted Naruto.

"Black cloaks, red clouds. Straw hats, freaky. That's them in short.", said Jiraiya as he pulled out a rope and started to tie Naruto to the couch. He then took a kunai and kept it on the boy's chest.

"The hell! What are you doing pervy-sage!", asked the boy indignantly.

"Tying you up. In a day or so you'll be able to move again, you can use the kunai with your mouth, to saw out of the ropes. Just a precaution to make sure you don't follow us. Later Naruto.", said Jiraiya as he nodded to Shiro. The two ninjas left the room.

(Felt like this was a 'Saw' sorta scene you know? Like, water flooding the room or something, this guy has to hold a double bladed knife in his mouth, to cut himself free, while cutting open his own mouth. "I want… to play… a game." Mwahahaa. Just to clear any confusion, there's no flooding room or double bladed knife in the movie/s or in this story, I just made that up.)

"… he's not serious is he?", Naruto asked himself. Minutes went by with no sign of the man showing up again. '…GET BACK HERE!"

--

(Waterfall)

Muchuu and Bura had been observing the man for two hours from the balcony.

Danzo was sitting on his desk, when a man knocked on his door. The man looked to be in his mid-twenties. He was not very tall, had a scar running down his right cheek and wore the hitai-ate for Cloud.

"Who is he?", whispered Bura. Muchuu stared at the man, then after a second he replied, "Aravi Mochi, chuunin from hidden village of Cloud."

Muchuu had a photographic memory, and he liked to stare, resulting in a vast knowledge of useful and not so useful matters. "What's he doing here?", asked Bura in a low voice.

"I'm not sure.", replied Muchuu. The man went through some hand seals and placed his palm on the glass. The conversation inside, suddenly turned audible.

"Is everything on track?", said a slow, calculating voice, Danzo.

"Yes, sir. Our Kage has agreed to the alliance and terms of treaty. Cloud is ready to ally with Sound and Mist.", said the chuunin.

"Good. You can begin the attack a week from now. I'll make sure that the ROOT division gives you ample openings to attack.", replied Danzo.

"Yes, sir.", said the Chuunin as he walked out of the door.

Danzo laughed to himself, "Goodbye Sarutobi and goodbye Konoha."

Muchuu dispelled the jutsu as the balcony reverted to silence.

"Yosh! Our mission is done. Although should we attack Danzo and finish this off?", said Bura.

"Ordered not to.", said Muchuu.

"Hmm that's right. Let's head back for Konoha then. We'll send them a message from the post office in the city.", said Bura. Muchuu nodded and lifted Bura, placing him on his shoulders again.

--

(Random Forest)

Rika jumped towards he next branch cautiously. The branches were damp and slippery, a sign that she was approaching Rain. She was half a day away from the village.

She really hated the place. It was always raining, the sky was dark, a gloomy atmosphere surrounded the entire village. It was a dull and boring place to be, but she wouldn't dare say so to her Master. He was the only reason she was alive, and she had vowed to never leave his side.

Rika heard approaching footsteps, and quickly came to a stop. She took out a kunai from somewhere within her kimono. She saw a figure approach and took a defensive stance.

"Ah there you are Rika-chan.", said a cheery voice.

"Benito-sama?", she said as she recognized the approaching man.

"No Rika-chan it's Kensei.", said the demented man. He held his umbrella over his shoulder. Two bodies hung limply from the umbrella's end. The bodies were hung by a piece of rope tied around their necks.

"Sorry Kensei-sama.", said Rika. "Why did you leave Rain?"

"Hmm, that Pein guy was attacking me, but it was boring without you around, so I left.", answered Kensei. "I killed of two of his bodies though. I wanted to kill the girl too, she looked cute.", said the man.

"But, don't worry!", he said, changing his tone to a serious one, "You're still cuter.", he finished solemnly.

"Th-Thanks Kensei-sama.", replied Rika. "So what are you going to do with those bodies?"

"Hmm I don't know. Where is Jiraiya-chan right now?", asked the man.

"The lady Hokage gave him a mission in Sand.", answered Rika.

"Ah, Sand is a boring place to be. Do you like Sand, Rika-chan?"

"Yes, it's a friendly place… I'm sorry.", she added apologetically, for having contradicted her master.

"Alright then, let's go to Sand and we can give these to Jiraiya.", said the man as he shook the two corpses.

"Yes, Kensei-sama."

"Don't call me that."

"Sorry, Benito-sama."

"It's alright. Let's go."

The two ninja changed their direction. They were headed towards sand.

--

(With Jiraiya and Shiro)

The ninja rushed at inhumane speeds. They would reach in half a day's time.

"So who exactly is Danzo?", asked Shiro.

"He's a council member and was a candidate for the position of Sandaime Hokage. However, the people and the previous Hokages, both favored Sarutobi. Danzo was angered and has been attempting to get the Hokage position ever since. He's a ruthless, stone-hearted man and would convert Konoha to a military centre. After a year on the council, he had gained enough influence to create his own ANBU organization, the ROOT division. The ROOT division member's are trained to be completely heartless and emotionless, they're basically machines that live to complete their mission. They are efficient, but are nothing more than tools.", explained Jiraiya.

"So why don't we just kill him off first?", asked Shiro.

"Because we don't have the evidence yet. We'll be ready to make a move when Muchuu and Bura reach Konoha. So until then, all we can do is prepare ourselves for attack.", replied Jiraiya.

"Hmm. Do you know which villages are involved?", asked Shiro.

"Cloud, Sound and Mist.", replied Jiraiya.

"That's pretty bad. If they attack Konoha now, in its already weakened state…"

"Yeah, they could stir other villages into action and propel us towards a Third Shinobi War.", said Jiraiya, finishing the woman's sentence.

Shiro nodded, this was very serious.

--

(Sand Village)

"Bwoody peveted toed hemit..", muttered Naruto, kunai in his mouth. He had been sawing through the thick ropes, with the suspiciously blunt kunai for an hour. Naruto was losing his patience.

"DAMN YOU JIRAIYA!", he shouted, as the kunai fell out from his mouth. "Shit.."

He was stuck with no-way to escape.

'**Hahaha chibi!'**, laughed the fox hysterically.

'What do you want?', said Naruto angrily.

'**I just wanted to see you squirm about like a worm haha.'**

'Goodbye then..'

'**No wait a second!'**, said Kyuubi. **'I wanted to teach you a trick.'**

'What trick?', asked Naruto curiously.

'**It's a way to use my chakra. Just flare it once or twice rapidly.'**

Naruto closed his eyes and concentrated on the red chakra inside him. He released the chakra briefly and then pulled it back in. He repeated it again and saw the ropes catch fire.

'Cool!'

'**Yeah, my chakra is greater in malicious intent than normal human chakra. So flaring it rapidly should create enough heat, to create a temporary distraction.'**

'Nice.', replied Naruto as he quickly broke free of the charred ropes.

He quickly packed his stuff and headed for the door.

'**Don't do it kit. If you leave, that other boy may be put in danger.'**

Naruto sighed, he knew he couldn't leave Gaara alone. He threw his backpack on the sofa, returning to stare at the boy.

--

(Three days later, Konoha)

The vast army comprised of Sound, Cloud and Mist ninja. They were huge in number and all of them were ready to destroy Konoha. They surrounded the village from all four sides.

In front of the four Konoha gates, ninjas of every rank, even the genin, were assigned into platoons. The ANBU were already arranged in their different squads, facing the enemies. The four different groups of Konoha ninja were lead by Tsunade, Sarutobi, Jiraiya and Kakashi and Gai, who acted as joint leaders.

Kunai, shuriken, daggers, swords were drawn. Chakra was molded, the tension in the surroundings rose.

"ATTACK!", yelled Tsunade. The battle had begun.

--

(Two days earlier, Konoha (two days to war))

Jiraiya and Shiro had reached the village and headed straight for the Hokage's office. Tsunade met them outside the building and told them to wait for her signal to enter the building, they weren't supposed to be here, especially Shiro.

A few minutes later, Tsunade motioned for them to come up, from her office window. The two quickly ran to her office, they knocked on the door, and pushed it open.

Tsunade sat behind her desk. The office was occupied by all Yoinokuchi members, save Rika and Kensei.

"Alright. Muchuu and Bura here, managed to discern Danzo's plans a few days ago in Waterfall.", spoke Tsunade, "We have enough evidence to attack Danzo, but it's too late for that. Tomorrow, the combined forces of Cloud, Sound and Mist will be marching down upon us. We have sent out a request for help, but reinforcements will take a day or two to reach."

"Who has agreed help us?", asked Jiraiya.

"Sand, Waterfall and Lightening will come to our aid. Stone and Rain will join the enemy ranks, Grass chooses to stay out of this.", answered Tsunade.

"Rain.. that means Pein and Kensei?", said Jiraiya incredulously.

"Isn't Kensei on our side?", asked Nemui.

"He is.. maybe. But that's not important. What I have called you here for, is to ask for what your stands on this matter will be. Kitaou and Kira, I will not allow you to attack Konoha, but being from Stone, I will allow you to sit out of this one.", said Tsunade.

"Ha. We don't mind killing Stone ninja. They're stupid enough to ally under a man like Danzo, against Konoha. They deserve what is coming to them.", said Kitaou in his loud voice. Kira simply nodded. He just wanted to see the blood.

"Alright. What about you Nemui? You're from Grass. Will you return to you village till this dies down?", Tsunade asked the former ANBU captain.

The man sighed, "No.. I guess I'll fight with you guys."

"Good. In that case I'll give you your new missions.", said Tsunade. "Me, Sarutobi-sensei, Jiraiya will be busy commanding the Konoha armies, and so won't be able to carry out our duties as Yoinokuchi members. Instead, we'll trust them to the rest of you."

The Grass member, Nemui sighed, "More work..", he muttered under his breath.

"Since Cloud is going to be involved, there is a high possibility, they will use their jinchuuriki, the eight tail carrier to fight. This might be an opportunity for the Akatsuki to attack as well. This is where you both,", she pointed at Kitaou and Kira, "come in. You will be assigned to protecting the jinchuuriki. Don't attack any of the Konoha ninja. Try to knock him out and take him somewhere safe, away from the battle."

"Can we fight after we're done hiding the eight tail carrier?", asked Kitaou.

"Yes.", replied Tsunade. Kitaou's face lit up visibly, so did his partner, Kira's.

"Next, Nemui you'll be in charge of the two tailed Nii Yugito. Since she is fighting for us, let her do her share of damage, and then take her away. Make sure she isn't hurt."

"Alright, will do.", replied the man.

"Good. Shiro, you will return to Sand and accompany Naruto. Protect Gaara. The Sand forces will return back to Konoha to aid us. You will return with them, only if Gaara is brought along too. Understood?", asked Tsunade.

"Yes.", replied the woman.

"That leaves us with you Bura and Muchuu. You are the best suited for stealth and assassination missions. You will assassinate Danzo.", said the woman coldly.

"Yes sir!", replied Bura enthusiastically.

"Alright, go!", said Tsunade, as the ninjas disappeared.

--

(Sand village, night time)

A large explosion illuminated the night sky, waking up Naruto. The boy looked at the room across the street. Gaara wasn't there. He looked down at the street where he had seen the boy walking aimlessly. Gaara wasn't there either.

He looked towards the source of the noise and saw a large ball of sand floating in the air.

"Shit!", he said to himself. He quickly jumped from the sofa and put on his sandals. He strapped on the weapons pouch and ran out of the door. He ran towards the huge ball in the sky.

Deidara was having a blast. (yep, cheap puns, that's what I'm known for)

He had successfully managed to infiltrate the village and killed of two guards, when the boy he was looking for walked up to him.

"So how did you know I was here-un?", the man asked Gaara.

The shield of sand returned beneath the boy's feet, forming a platform. "There are no birds like that in Sand.", replied the boy in a monotonous tone.

Naruto had managed to reach the city centre, where many other people had gathered. They were all staring at the floating boy in the sky, Gaara. Besides him was a man with long blonde hair that was tied in form of a ponytail behind his head. He wore a black cloak with red colored clouds patterned on it. He sat on top of a large white owl.

'Akatsuki', realized Naruto. He decided not to tell Jiraiya. Naruto knew that Jiraiya would be busy, Konoha needed the man.

But the fight was taking place too high up. He didn't know what to do.

Deidara reached for his clay and shot out another couple of birds at the redhead. They headed straight for the boy, but were met by the sand, which automatically shot up and diverted them form their course.

Deidara smirked and made slight alterations to his birds and shot them towards the boy. The birds flew towards the boy. Gaara once again ordered his sand to attack the flying creatures, but this time was different. The birds dodged the sand with a sudden burst of speed and headed straight for the boy. BOOM, exploded the birds an inch from Gaara's face. Gaara however, had removed the chakra from the sand below his feet. He fell towards the earth as the birds exploded above him. He quickly formed the platform of sand again, having lost a significant amount of altitude.

Deidara's owl flew towards the boy, it's beak wide open. Gaara had been busy making the platform and hadn't noticed the bird flying towards him. The bird was almost upon him, when a strong burst of wind collided with it. "Tonfarin Arts: Uzumaki Tornado!", shouted Naruto. The boy was standing on top of a building, holding his tonfa. The fall in Gaara's altitude had put him in range to attack.

Deidara was surprised as he barely managed to hold on. His owl had nearly been shred. He saw the blonde boy, "Wow! Uzumaki Naruto, the Kyuubi Jinchuuriki-un! I must be really lucky to catch two jinchuuriki in one day-un!", said the man happily.

Gaara turned around to see Naruto standing below him, "What are you doing here Uzumaki-san?"

"I'm helping you!", said Naruto.

"No, let me fight this man with my own power.", said the boy.

"But..", tried to argue Naruto.

"I must, I finally realized what it means to have precious people. Thanks to you. Now I must protect them with my own power.", continued Gaara.

Deidara had gotten tired of waiting and released another couple of birds at the boy. Gaara's shield of sand picked up the movement, and intercepted the birds. However two of them managed to get past the boy's defense and exploded in his face. Gaara's face seemed to start cracking. The armor of sand around his body had been hit.

Gaara quickly ordered the sand to attack the man. The sand shot out towards the flying Akatsuki member. Deidara quickly reached into his pouch. Gaara saw the man and channeled more chakra into his sand, the sand shot forward and gripped the man's arm. Deidara was slightly surprised, the momentum of his own owl, caused his hand to be ripped off its socket.

He smirked, not showing any reaction to his hand being separated. Gaara pulled the sand back, the man's hand still firmly stuck in it. The redhead noticed a small bird in the man's severed hand. "Katsu!", shouted Deidara. The bird exploded, throwing Gaara back through the air.

Gaara had quickly managed to turn the gourd on his back into a shield, preventing any major damage, but in the process had used up most his chakra. He panted, barely being able to control the platform. What he saw next terrified him.

Deidara had dropped a snow-man shaped bomb towards the city, it grew till it was the size of a house, then started to fall downwards. Deidara smiled at the redhead, "Say goodbye to your village-un, KATSU!"

The bomb exploded and people on the streets, in their houses all ducked, taking cover. Nothing happened. They saw the bomb had been stopped by an extremely thick layer of sand, which acted as a ceiling for the village. Gaara had saved them all.

Gaara panted as he held his fist in front of him, clutching it tightly. He had made it. He saw two small clay birds headed his way. He had a choice, he could either use the last remaining chakra in his body to defend himself, or he could use it to safely drop the sand away from the village. He chose the latter. The birds collided with him and exploded. His skin burnt off and blood fell started to fall, mixing with the sand underneath him.

However, he held his fist, unwavering. He slowly started to drag the sand away from the village. Every man and woman, of all ages, citizen and shinobi alike, all prayed for the boy's success.

The sand slowly reached the outskirts of the city. It was the abandoned side of town. Gaara let the sand go, and fainted at the same time. The platform beneath his feet seemed to disappear and he started to fall again.

The villagers all chanted, "Gaara! Gaara! Gaara!", but quickly stopped when they saw the boy fall. Naruto ran from ceiling to ceiling, trying to reach the boy's landing spot, but he was beaten to it by the Akatsuki member.

Deidara's owl quickly caught the boy and swallowed it. "Haha, you turn-un.", he said to Naruto.

Naruto was shocked at what had just happened, "GIVE HIM BACK!", shouted the boy.

"No-un. But I'll let you meet him-un.", said the man, as he threw three birds at Naruto. The birds were fast, Naruto couldn't even bring up his hand in time. He didn't need to.

A large black bolt of light shot from somewhere on the ground. It pierced all three birds, then continued to pierce the owl and finally shot straight through Deidara's chest. Deidara had a shocked looked on his face, he took his last breath and stopped moving.

"Noooo! I missed one!", came a new voice.

"No, Kensei-sama, that's Uzumaki Naruto-san. He's from Konoha.", said a feminine voice.

"Still..", said the man in a sad voice.

Naruto turned around to see a man wearing a pitch black kimono. His left hand was outside the kimono, and his right hand held an old umbrella, from which the black colored light seemed to be emitted.

He lowered the umbrella, and the light disappeared. Deidara and his owl fell to the earth with a dull thud. Naruto quickly ran to the clay bird, and clawed at it with his hands. He found Gaara inside, still breathing, though bleeding badly.

He carried the boy back to the villagers, "We need a doctor and fast!", shouted the boy.

One of the villagers came forward and took the redhead from Naruto. "He needs to get to the hospital.", said the man, checking Gaara's injuries.

There was a large chorus of, "Let me", as the villagers carried their savior towards the hospital. Naruto sighed in relief and headed for the strange 'umbrella man'.

He found the man poking Deidara's owl with his umbrella.

"Hey Rika-chan, do you think this is edible?", said the man.

Naruto sweat-dropped at the statement.

"It's clay Benito-sama.", replied Rika.

"Uhm thanks and all, but who are you?", Naruto asked the man.

The man looked up at the boy and answered with a smile, "I'm Benito, but you can call me Kensei!"

"Okay, and who exactly are you? And why are you here?", asked Naruto.

But the man had stopped paying attention. He chose to prod Deidara's corpse with his umbrella. The man stooped down and picked up the green centered Akatsuki ring, with the kanji for 'Green' drawn in the middle. He pocketed the ring and continued to go through the dead man's belongings.

"Haha, I have two rings now!", shouted the man happily.

"Two rings?", asked Naruto, "He fought another one?"

"Yes, there was a man named Sasori at the village enterance, we had to defeat him to enter.", said Rika.

Naruto became slightly cautious at this point. The man, though crazy, had to be pretty strong to fight and kill two Akatsuki members.

Kensei finished searching Deidara and stood up again. "Alright then. Where's Jiraiya-chan?"

"You know Jiraiya?", asked Naruto.

"Yeah, he's an old friend I've come to kill him.", replied the man.

Naruto took out his tonfa after hearing the man's statement.

Rika quickly interrupted, "We're allies."

"Don't like to me.", replied Naruto.

"Okay! Let's fight!", said Kensei suddenly ad he lunged forward at the boy with hi umbrella.

Rika quickly jumped out of the way, she couldn't stop her master with words, let alone using force.

Naruto side-stepped and dodged the umbrella. Kensei simply brought his leg up, it connected with the boy's stomach. Naruto was sent back flying, crashing into a wall. The boy coughed up blood.

Naruto quickly went through some hand seals, "Kuchiyose no Jutsu: Gamabunta!". Nothing happened. He was sure he had used the right amount of chakra, but nothing happened.

"Kuchiyose no Jutsu: Gamakon!", no result.

"Kuciyose no Jutsu: Gamaki!", nothing yet again.

Naruto was confused, he went through the seals again but received a kick to his chest, before he could finish. The wall around him cracked, his back felt like a jigsaw puzzle. More blood flowed from his mouth.

"The frogs never play with me.", said Kensei in a sad voice.

Naruto ignored the man, he channeled wind chakra into his tonfa, "Sanctum, Alpha", he said. He charged at the older man, swiping with his almost-invisible wind blades. He felt them connect. He tried pulling the weapon back, but it was stuck. He saw Kensei firmly holding onto both tonfa with either hand. Hi hands were cut badly by the ravaging winds, but it didn't seem to affect him.

Kensei pulled the tonfa from Naruto's grip and threw them aside. "Ta-da!", said the man as he showed Naruto his palms. They were completely healed. Naruto felt his eyes widen in shock.

He quickly went to reach for a kunai, but Kensei was faster. The man brought up his umbrella, and pierced Naruto's chest. Naruto fell to his knees, blood pouring from the wound.

"Kensei-sama! You're a part of Yoinokuchi! You can't kill the boy!", Rika shouted, slightly worried at what her master had just done.

"Fine Rika-chan if you say so. I missed his heart anyway. He can get his demon to fix him up.", said the man in a bored voice.

Naruto lay on the cold sandy floor, staring at the man. He couldn't move. Not because of his physical condition, no, it was fear that held him in place. For the first time in a very long time, he had felt the cold, anxiety-riddled feeling of fear develop in his chest.

'**Don't worry kit. He missed your heart, your lungs, almost everything. I can fix you up in no time.'**

'He-he didn't miss. He aimed for it carefully. To-to make sure I knew I couldn't beat him.', replied Naruto, scared.

Kyuubi decided to stay silent.

"Well Naruto-kun. This is goodbye for now.", said the man, as he waved at the downed boy. "Oh yeah, give these to Jiraiya.", he went through some hand seals and opened up his umbrella. As if magically, two corpses fell out from inside the umbrella. The man waved again and walked away, accompanied by the woman.

Naruto stared at the two bodies lying next to him. They were heavily studded and both had the same type of eyes, concentric circles that lay inside each other.

The night progressed, an hour or so later, Naruto had been healed enough to start the journey back to his apartment. He slowly got up, bit his thumb, and went through some hand seals again. "Kuchiyose no Jutsu.", he murmured.

A large white frog appeared in front of the boy. It had a pair of nun-chucks strapped to its side.

"Why didn't you come earlier when I called!?", asked Naruto angrily.

"I'm sorry Naruto-sama, but we don't fight against that man. None of the summons do.", said the frog as it bowed his head.

Naruto was confused, he had no idea who the hell that man was. "Fine. Pick these two corpses up for me and take them to my apartment.", he instructed the frog, giving it the keys to his temporary abode.

The frog nodded and set to work. Naruto sighed and picked up his tonfa. They started channeling wind again. He deactivated it and sealed the weapon again. He turned back to see the white frog haul the two bodies onto its shoulder.

Satisfied, Naruto headed for the hospital.

--

(With Kensei and Rika)

"Kensei-sama.."

"No don't call me that", said the man.

"Sorry, Benito-sama why did you fight the kid? You generally fight only stronger people.", asked Rika.

"I dunno. Felt like I had to.", replied Benito simply. "That's the boy.", he added.

"The boy?", asked Rika.

"Yeah, the one that'll kill me.", explained Kensei.

--

(With Naruto)

'**What's wrong kit? What are you thinking about?'**

'About that guy', thought Naruto as he continued to walk towards the hospital.

'Kyuubi do you know him?'

'**Nope, never heard of him.'**, replied Kyuubi.

'I think I have.. but I can't remember from where.', Naruto racked his brain for answers.

He continued to walk down the street, when he was near the hospital, the answer suddenly seem to come to him.

'The summoning contract!', exclaimed Naruto mentally.

'**The what now?'**

'His name, it was on the summoning contract! Before Jiraiya's! Benito Kensei.', explained Naruto.

'**Yeah, I remember now. But if his name was before the pervert's, then wouldn't he be older if not as old as him?'**

'Yeah. There's something weird about that man. I'll ask Jiraiya when we see him next.'

Naruto entered the hospital and asked the receptionist for Gaara. She pointed him towards the room.

Naruto quickly walked up to the redhead's room to see how he was doing. He entered the room to see Gaara lying on the bed, a thick layer of sand covering him. The doctor's around him seemed to be arguing about what to do.

"What's the problem?", asked Naruto.

"The sand won't let us help him.", said one of the doctors.

After a few minutes of discussing how to get past the sand, the doctors decided to drill through it. However before they could get started, the sand slowly started to recede, forming an invisible layer over the sleeping boy's figure.

As the sand receded, it revealed him to be completely healed. Naruto and the doctors sighed in relief. They checked his vital signs, to find he was perfectly fine.

Naruto sat down in the chair beside the boy, who for once seemed to be sleeping peacefully, a smile on his face.

--

(Day before war)

Muchuu and Bura hid among the trees. Danzo would be coming back to Konoha today. Hence, today was their only chance to stop the upcoming battle.

They had been waiting for half a day, Bura was getting impatient.

"When will he be here?", asked Bura.

"Five minutes, if he wants to make it to Konoha before nightfall.", said Muchuu in a whisper.

"You said that five minutes ago!", cried Bura.

"I said ten minutes, five minutes before.", replied Muchuu.

"Oh yeah..", replied the forgetful boy.

The boy continued his rant for another couple of minutes, when they felt people approach.

Muchuu peeked from behind the tree, there were two ANBU squads, one in front and one behind Danzo.

Muchuu waited for the ninja the approach, and when they were directly below him, he jumped.

The ANBU were travelling at high speeds. They kept Danzo surrounded on all sides. They had met almost no obstacles during their whole journey back, until now. A man seemed to have leaped down from the branches, landing on one of the ANBU.

The ANBU struggled beneath Muchuu's feet, but he didn't budge. Muchuu took a look around him. Four of the ANBU had surrounded him and Bura. Three of them kept guard in front of Danzo. The eighth member lay beneath his feet. Muchuu quickly unsheathed his katana and struck the man underneath him, with the blunt edge of the sword, knocking him out.

This was cue for the ANBU to attack. Two of the ANBU slashed out with their blades. Muchuu jumped, the blades passed below him. He threw his katana straight into the ground, and landed perfectly on the handle with one leg. He saw an ANBU charge at him from behind. He quickly jumped as the ANBU stabbed forward.

He kicked the back of the man's skull. The man went barreling forward, towards the embedded katana's hilt. He collided head on with the hard wooden hilt and passed out.

Muchuu landed on the ground smoothly. He saw an ANBU make some seals, and realized what the man was doing. He quickly ran for his katana, pulled it out of the ground and slashed in the man's direction.

The ANBU was on his last seal when he felt something forcefully lift him off the ground. He looked at what it was, what he saw was a wave of clear blue liquid. 'Water?', he thought. The water harshly pinned him against a tree, knocking him out as well.

"Three down!", yelled Bura happily.

The remaining two ANBU were slightly confused at what they had seen. The man had slashed his sword, and released a jet of water.

"ALL OF YOU ATTACK HIM!", yelled Danzo to the three ANBU in front of him.

"We can't hurt them, so you'll have to use the back of sword Muchuu. And also, finish this off fast.", said Bura.

"Yes sir.", replied Muchuu as he turned his katana.

The five ANBU approached him, holding either their ANBU blade, or kunai. They surrounded Muchuu, forming a circle around him.

"Mizu no Odari!", whispered Muchuu. (Dance of Water)

He slashed his katana diagonally upwards, releasing a wave of water. The water wave struck two of the ANBU, knocking one out. Another pair of the ANBU decided to end the man's life as they sliced at him.

Muchuu quickly dodged both strikes and struck the ground with his katana. Two bolts of water shout out from underneath the ANBU, lifting them up.

Bura quickly made some hand seals and faced his palms forward. He muttered something under his breath as two bolts of electricity shot out from either palm, hitting the two fountains of water.

The ANBU trapped in mid-air, drenched, were electrocuted.

"Did you kill them?", asked Muchuu.

"No!", replied Bura.

"Okay.", nodded Muchuu.

Another ANBU took this chance to attack the man. Muchuu quickly brought his katana up, blocking the man. Then putting his other hand on the flat of the blade, he pushed, sending the man flying backwards. Before the man could hit the ground, Muchuu appeared behind him, driving the hilt of his Katana, into the man's gut.

"One to go.", said Bura.

Muchuu looked around and spotted the ANBU taking a deep breath.

"Uh-oh! I think he's going to do some jutsu.", shouted Bura.

The ANBU release a huge, red, flaming dragon from his mouth. The fiery dragon headed straight for the two.

Muchuu quickly sheathed his katana and shouted, "Iai!". (a style where you strike so quickly, that it appears you just un-sheathed and re-sheathed your katana.)

Muchuu continued to shout the same phrase twenty times, each time appearing to be sheathing his katana.

Twenty transparent, blue-ish bullets headed towards the dragon. The first five bullets tore through the dragon's head, the next five countered its torso. The five after that, completely destroyed the jutsu, and the last five struck the man on his chest. The man collapsed to the ground, his eyes shut.

"Good Job Muchuu. Now for Danzo.", said Bura. "Yes Sir.", replied Muchuu.

Danzo used to be ninja, but with one of his hands disabled, his career had been destroyed. He was just a ruthless politician that liked to play with people's lives. He didn't stand a chance against the man in front of him. He closed his eyes, and felt the blade pierce his heart. His death was quick and painless, even though he didn't deserve it.

Muchuu quickly pulled out the blade from the man's chest. He jerked the katana once, a thin layer of water enveloped it, cleaning the blood off the blade. The mixture of blood and water fell to the forest floor. Muchuu quickly sheathed his sword and headed back for Konoha.

--

(Sand village, Hospital)

Gaara had woken up a few hours ago and had been talking to Naruto ever since. Although Naruto did most of the talking, Gaara answered with mono-syllable replies.

Many people had come to visit the boy, to thank him for saving their lives. The boy had finally started gaining the respect, but more importantly, the love of his people. Naruto smiled happily, he knew that Gaara's attitude would definitely change, living in this happy, peaceful environment.

After Gaara was discharged from the hospital, both boys headed towards the sand siblings' apartment. They entered the apartment to find Kankurou and Temari having their lunch. Both of them had seen Gaara save the village, and were slightly surprised.

"Kankurou, Temari-nii san, I'm sorry.", said Gaara.

Both brother and sister looked slightly shocked. Their expressions soon changed to happier ones as Gaara hugged them.

"Haha, it's good to see you like this Gaara.", said Temari.

"Yeah, and why did you call Temari nii-san, why you didn't call me Kankurou-sama or something?", asked Kankurou.

Gaara broke the hug and looked blankly, "Because you're still my inferior. If you disobey me.. I'll kill you."

"Y-yes, sorry about that then Gaara.", stammered Kankurou, 'I fuckin hate these little brats!', he thought to himself.

Temari smiled at the exchange, then she noticed Naruto standing in the doorway. "Gaara, who's he?"

"That is Uzumaki Naruto-san. My friend.", said Gaara slowly, still not used to the fact.

"Ah, welcome Naruto-san. Thanks for doing, whatever it is you did to make Gaara act this way.", said Temari politely.

"Ah, I heard you're the chick Shikamaru beat during the chuunin exams.", said Naruto.

"What was that? That lazy brat gave up didn't he?", shouted Temari.

"Yeah well in the real world, he could've killed you.", replied Naruto casually.

Kankurou had to hold his sister back, to prevent her from cracking the little blonde kid's skull.

"Anyway..", said Temari calming down, " It appears that Sand has been called to Konoha's aid. We will be heading out soon."

"Who will be leading you? Isn't you Kazekage dead?", asked Naruto.

"Yeah, we have a temporary Hokage for now, one of the older council members. He's a good man, and Sand has been a lot happier under his reign.", answered Temari.

"Ah, alright. So when are we heading for Konoha?", asked Naruto.

"Aww we're heading back already?", came a voice from the door.

The people in the room turned around to see who it was.

"Shiro? What are you doing here?", asked Naruto.

"I'm still carrying out my mission apparently.", answered Shiro, "Speaking of which, Naruto I need to talk with you privately for a minute."

Naruto nodded and followed the woman out.

"What do you want to know?", Naruto asked her.

"Have you spotted any Akatsuki recently?", she asked.

"Yeah, there were two here yesterday. Sasori and Deidara. They were defeated though, by some guy named Benito Kensei.", answered Naruto.

"Oh…", Shiro was shocked to hear that Kensei was moving around again.

"Do you know who that Kensei guy is?", asked Naruto.

"No sorry kid, I don't.", she lied.

"Alright. So we'll be heading back to Konoha with Sand then?", asked Naruto.

"Yes."

"How's the situation in Konoha right now?"

"They're getting ready for war.", replied Shiro.

--

(Konoha)

"ATTACK!", yelled Tsunade. The battle had begun.

Ninjas from both sides began the assault. Some threw their kunai and shuriken. Some started of long series of complicated hand seals, the braver ones charged forward. It was a war, and mostly every-one was a trained professional.

Tsunade ran towards the enemy lines. Kunai thrown at her were quickly deflected by her assistant Shizune. The blonde Hokage reached the enemy soldiers and punched the ground in front of her. A massive crack appeared on the soil, and a large chunk of earth shot upwards, killing dozens of shinobi at once.

Jiraiya went through a set of hand seals and shouted, "Doton: Yomi Numa" (Earht release: Swamp of the Underworld)

A large area of the land in front of him turned into marshy swampland. People screamed as they were sucked in, suffocated. Jiraiya smiled and closed his eyes. It had been a very long time since he had fought a battle this large in size. He had closed his eyes, so he could feel the war through his other senses, he could smell the blood in the air, he could hear the screams of enemies. He savored the feeling, he wasn't allowed to hear the wondrous melody of war so often. He didn't relish the feeling of taking people's lives, he relished the fact that this is where he belonged. This is where he was God.

He quickly opened his eyes and caught a fuuma shuriken (evil windmill shuriken or sumthing) with his left hand. He threw it back at the source, beheading him. He quickly went through some seals and shouted, "Kuchiyos no Jutsu!".

A frog as big as the man popped out. "Oil!", shouted Jiraiya, no time for pleasantries.

"Yes sir!", replied the amphibian as it shot out a highly pressurized jet of oil.

"Katon: Gamayu Endan!", shouted Jiraiya, igniting the oil by breathing fire on it. (Fire release: Toad Oil Flame Bullet)

The fire spread along the enemy ranks, quickly killing off many.

However, the lower level ninja were not having such a great time. Konoha genin who froze up at the sight of blood, and chuunin who had been out of practice for a long time, were easy targets for the opposing ninja.

Casualties were high on both sides. Skill determined how long the person would survive. Stray kunai did manage to kill a few ninja, despite their superior reflexes. The most seasoned ninja were brought down in the matter of seconds, while genin fresh out of the academy found their inner shinobi, using the most basic skills to score kill after kill.

In short, it was chaos, nothing was certain, every passing second a potential hazard. After a while, when stamina started to wear thin for most ninjas, the jutsu war began. Fire, water, earth, wind, lightening, all types of juts, along with some special bloodline jutsu were released. Landscape was altered, blood changed the color of the soil, the sky was filled with thick black smoke. This wasn't a normal war, this was a shinobi one.

Sarutobi rapidly went through hand seals, turning the soil besides him mushy. A dragon shot out from the mushy spot of ground, crushing people under it. He threw a couple of shuriken, shouting "Shuriken Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!". (Shurike Shadow Clone technique)

The shuriken multiplied by fifty, striking down hundreds of shinobi at once, a simple technique, used at Kage Level.

Kakashi had requested none of the rookie nine to be positioned in his squad. He couldn't bear to see one of them die, also, he wouldn't want them to see the former ANBU captain within him come out to play. He didn't bother uncovering his sharingan. These were just small fry. The real fighters came later on, as he had learnt from previous experiences.

He took out four kunai, two in each hand, twirling them expertly. He regulated his breathing and focused on the crow around him, and then he struck. He lunged forward, killing five men in the blink of an eye. He attacked again; ninjas fell dead, not knowing what had happened. He flashed through the enemy ranks, swiping and stabbing. Hatake Kakashi, former ANBU captain, bore his fangs.

The rookie nine, or seven as they were now, were doing well. They had been assigned a bit further off to the back of the large group. They were in charge of killing people that somehow managed to break into the lines. They mainly fought weaker enemies, chuunin to low jounin level. Although sometimes a higher level ninja would break past, at which point they'd have to team up to bring him/her down.

The genjutsu specialists were having a blast, the ninjas, now worn out by all the fighting and chakra draining activities had lowered their guards. Many a ninja fell screaming to the floor of no apparent reason, dying of shock, or stabbing themselves in vital organs.

--

(Desert)

The sand army had taken off, they were on their way to Konoha. Shiro and Naruto had disguised themselves as Sand ninja and were travelling with the three sand siblings.

"So Naruto how strong are you? Cuz, we don't need wea….". started off Kankuro.

"He's stronger than you are.", stated Gaara simply.

"Aww, how can you just say that Gaara! He's going to have to prove it!", said Kankuro, the heat getting to his head.

"Because he beat me.", replied Gaara as he continued to walk.

"Ah, never mind then.", said Kankuro, his vigor wearing off.

"So is that lazy brat going to be fighting?". asked Temari curiously.

"I don't think he'll want to..", replied Naruto.

"AHA! I knew it, he's to weak too.", interrupted Temari.

"I said he wouldn't want to. He'll still be forced to, especially since he's a Chuunin now.", said Naruto.

"WHAT?", came the unified reply of Temari and Kankuro.

"Yeah, apparently he was the only one with chuunin like qualities in him. So ever since the day he was promoted, he's been happily shunning all his duties, tasks and missions. But I'm pretty sure that Tsunade baa-chan will force him to fight as well.", explained Naruto.

"So how much time to Konoha?", asked Naruto restlessly.

"Half a day.", replied Shiro from his right.

"Oh you're here.", said Naruto, not having noticed the ever-quiet woman walking beside him.

"Pretty much yes.",. replied the woman in her bored voice.

"Why don't we just speed up and get there ourselves! Do you know how many casualties there could have been so far?", said Naruto.

"Because breaking the line will give away our cover. Besides, attacking as a group would mean lesser casualties than there already are. And for your second question, there should be around 500 casualties by the time we reach.", stated the woman.

Naruto didn't reply, he could tell the woman had experience.

"But don't worry, the real war hasn't even started yet. The real war will start when we reach.", said Shiro.

"Alright! We're gonna kick some ass!", shouted Naruto.

"No, that's not what I meant. What I meant to say was that the other allied villages will reach Konoha by the same time that we do. And THAT is when the real war will begin.", explained Shiro.

"Other allied villages?", asked Naruto, slightly wide-eyed.

"Yes. As history has told us, a war is fought with more than just two villages."

--

Woooohooo 60,000+ I kept feeling that this chapter was too short, and somehow ended up making it the longest one yet. stupid me..

Okay, now I'm very very bored. I broke a part of my tooth today while biting down on one of those bloody black olives! I hate them! I keep forgetting that they have seeds in them!

Ugh, my tooth is half broken, hurts like hell and is all pointy now, so keeps poking my tongue!

And I think I'm coming down with flu, sucks right?

Anway don't bother about me, I'll be fine by tomorrow.

Read & Review. Thanks.

Later.


	10. Chapter 10 : Jiraiya

Chapter Ten – Jiraiya

Please read and review, thanks.

Disclaimer- Don't own Naruto or any other anime/games/manga mentioned in the chapter or story.

Sorry about the late update, have had a hectic day. Had an outing with friends, so time was sucked up in that, also had a severe headache yesterday. The next chapter might be delayed by a day again as I have to go to the dentist tomorrow.

Anyway, enjoy the chapter.

Key-

"Normal Talking"

'Thinking/Mindscape talking'

'**Kyuubi Talking'**

"_Summon Talking"_

(Announcements concerning place and time changes. Also author ramblings)

--

(Konoha)

The village gates were sealed tightly shut. All shinobi capable of fighting were outside the walls.

It was the second day of war. Tents had been pitched up during the night, and removed hastily once again when dawn arrived. Civilians covered with fear inside the village.

Jiraiya was getting impatient, the reinforcements were supposed to have arrived an hour ago. He dodged a kunai and quickly shot his hand forward towards an enemy ninja, cracking his ribs.

He wasn't worried about getting help, he was worried that the enemy reinforcements had already arrived. Things could get pretty ugly.

Then he saw him. The man he had been waiting for.

A giant snake came barreling forward, aiming for the white-haired sannin. Jiraiya quickly jumped to the side, as the snake' head snapped next to him. He took out a kunai and dug it deep into the reptile's eye. The snake started to thrash around, furious at the sudden loss of sight in its left eye.

Jiraiya jumped onto the snake's back and went through some hand seals. "Kuchiyose : Yatai Kuzushi no Jutsu" (Summoning: Food Cart Destroyer)

A huge frog appeared in mid-air, falling down on the snake, crushing its skull. The snake's body moved for a couple more seconds, before it went still and disappeared in a cloud of smoke.

Jiraiya turned around and shouted, "Come out you fag!"

Orochimaru slightly frowned as he stepped into the sannin's view. "Good to see you again Jiraiya-chan."

"Sorry, but I don't have time to waste with you. So I'm going to hurry up and kill you like the old monkey should've done years ago.", said Jiraiya rapidly.

"Kukukuku, do you know the difference between me and you Jiraiya-chan?", asked Orochimaru in his creepy voice.

"Yes. Sexual Preference.", answered Jiraiya.

"No…"

"Hmm, then how about sexuality?", guessed Jiraiya again.

"No!"

"Okay, uhh.. how about pedo…"

"STOP GUESSING!", interrupted Orochimaru. He coughed and then spoke in his creepy voice again, "Like I was saying, the difference is that YOU can die, but I can not. Kukukuku"

"Ok. Now that you're done with your little speech, let's get started.", said Jiraiya as he took out a kunai.

"Very well.", answered Orochimaru. He reached into his throat and pulled out the sword of Kusanagi.

"Sick…", muttered Jiraiya.

--

Rock Lee smashed another chuunin's skull with his rock hard punch. The man fell quietly to the floor.

"That makes it 27 since today morning. How many you got Neji?", shouted Rock Lee.

A few men away, the black haired Hyuuga was swinging his arms in small, precise movements.

Neji quickly palmed a man's chest, cutting off his coronary artery. The man died a few seconds later. "I'm not counting… I told you that yesterday, and I told you earlier this morning as well… Stop asking me.", replied Neji slightly irritated.

Tenten, a few feet behind the two boys, sighed at their constant bickering. Neji always behaved like this, but she knew that he secretly enjoyed the taijutsu user's company.

She spun around, running her thumb along a scroll, releasing kunai and shuriken of every shape and size. They all struck their intended targets, save a few that were deflected.

A kunai came flying at her from her blind spot, it pierced through the scroll, leaving a large hole in it. She quickly took out a kunai from one of her pockets, turning around to see who it was.

"Hmph. I don't remember your name, but tell me where the Hyuuga is.", said a familiar voice.

Neji turned around as he heard his family name being called. He walked up to Ten-ten, fending off a few more blows. "Why are you attacking Konoha ninja?", asked Neji.

"To test my new gained powers. Fight me Hyuuga!", said the voice.

"Sasuke-san?", asked Ten-ten.

"I'm not talking to you woman.", said Sasuke as he appeared from behind some men. He looked the same, beside the hitai-ate he wore. His hitai-ate now had a symbol for sound drawn on it.

Neji noted this and quickly bent his left knee slightly. He aligned his hands in a straight line and shouted, "Sixty Four Palm Strikes!".

The pupil-less boy shot forward at the Uchiha, striking with open palms.

Sasuke quickly activated his sharingan and smirked at the approaching boy.

--

(Random Forest)

The Sand ninja jumped from branch to branch, not breaking the line.

"Alright! We're almost there!", said the disguised Naruto enthusiastically.

"Yeah, we should be there in an hour.", replied Shiro.

Naruto smiled, he was back home!

"You shouldn't be so happy though. Although I shouldn't be saying such things, you might not see some of your friends again.", said Shiro in an emotionless voice.

Naruto's smile slowly disappeared as he sobered up.

'Yeah, she's right. Now isn't the time to be acting like a kid.', he thought to himself.

The sand siblings were busy with preparations of their own.

"So what's the plan?", Temari asked Naruto.

"Hmm. I need to go and find that pervy-sage first. So I'm going to leave Shiro here, with you three. I'll go look for Jiraiya, I have some questions to ask him. Then I'll re-group with you.", answered Naruto.

"Alright.", said Temari.

'**What do you want to ask him about kit?'**, asked Kyuubi.

'Kensei.', replied Naruto.

--

(Konoha)

Jiraiya quickly dodged Kusanagi's strike and stuck his kunai in Orochimaru's side.

Without bothering to take a second look at the man, he quickly ducked as a dozen snakes shot through the air above him. The stabbed Orochimaru had melted into mud.

Jiraiya jumped up and cut the snakes in half with another kunai. Orochimaru frowned slightly, the man kept killing his summons.

"Why don't you go full power to fight me Jiraiya-chan?", asked Orochimaru as he attacked again.

"What power are you talking about?", asked Jiraiya as he dodged the blow.

"Your sage mode. Why don't you use it?", asked Orochimaru, bringing his sword down in a diagonal slash.

"Saving it for a special occasion. Besides, you don't seem to be fighting in your real form either.", replied Jiraiya as he blocked the sword with his kunai and kicked the snake sannin in his gut.

Orochimaru took a few steps back, recoiling from the attack. Catching his breath he spoke again, "How do you know about that?"

"I've known you for too long you damn snake. You always had this arrogant, self-centered aura around you. All I feel now is a giant snake.", said Jiraiya as he lunged for the man.

Orochimaru tried to bring down his sword to block, but Jiraiya managed to reach there before. Jiraiya quickly put a hand down on the floor, and spinning on it slightly, brought his leg down on Orochimaru's chest.

Orochimaru coughed up some blood as he was forced into the ground. Jiraiya quickly stood up, keeping one leg down on his former teammate's chest.

"Got you know.", said Jiraiya as he started making some hand seals.

"Kukuku, you wish you had.", said Orochimaru as his torso split from the rest of his body. Snakes seemed to be wriggling out off both parts of the man's body.

Jiraiya stopped his hand seals as Orochimaru slithered away and reformed a few feet from him.

"Wow.. that was disgusting… even for you.", said Jiraiya slightly shocked.

"Kukuku, a small price for invulnerability.", replied Orochimaru.

--

(Forest)

They had reached. The Sand army had cleared the dense jungle, and was officially on Konoha territory. It was evening.

Despite the seriousness of the situation, Naruto couldn't help but feel excited, happy.

The army suddenly came to a stop as lines of soldiers halted.

"What's going on?", asked Naruto.

"The front line of the army seemed to have stopped for some reason.", replied Shiro.

Naruto broke the formation as he headed out to see what was happening. He had barely managed to walk three steps when he saw a huge explosion in the sky. He covered his eyes from the massive amount of light emitted.

The light died out and Naruto saw that all armies had stopped to watch the ongoing battle between two people.

'**For everyone to stop and watch in the middle of battle, must be something huge Kit.'**, said Kyuubi.

'Yeah.', replied Naruto.

The ninjas had formed a circle and were all watching the ongoing fight. Naruto broke through the men, trying to get to the front, so he could get a better look. He finally managed to reach the front, what he saw there horrified him.

"Ji-Jiraiya-sensei?", said Naruto, shocked.

Jiraiya lay on the floor, blood leaking from under his customized hitai-ate. His nose was oddly warted, like a frog's. He was badly injured; places in his clothes were torn and badly bleeding.

In front of him stood five excessively pierced men, all of them had the same eyes. Concentric circles lying within each other, just like the corpses Kensei had handed the boy. There was another person, a woman with blue hair, she too had various piercings on her face and the same weird set of eyes.

Jiraiya was writing something on the back of a small frog. He finished writing the message and smiled slightly at the sky above. The man in front of Jiraiya saw the frog and began to move for it.

The frog quickly patted Jiraiya's head once and disappeared. The man continued towards Jiraiya, looking to land the final blow.

Naruto couldn't believe what was happening. Jiraiya was being beaten? By that freak?

"NO!", screamed Naruto.

--

(Konoha)

Jiraiya slashed at the snake sannin. Orochimaru simply split his torso and reformed once again. Jiraiya was getting tired of this, he had to end it.

"Alright Orochimaru I'm getting tired of looking at you. Let's make this our last meeting.", stated Jiraiya.

"Kukuku, my pleasure.", answered Orochimaru.

Jiraiya started to collect chakra to his right hand. Orochimaru held his right hand up as snakes shot out from his sleeve.

Jiraiya quickly dodged the snakes, although one managed to latch on to his left hand. The chakra in his hand had started to resemble a small sphere, blue in color.

Orochimaru was surprised that Jiraiya had been caught by one of his snakes. 'No!', thought Orochimaru as he ordered the snake to let go of the man.

It was too late. Jiraiya grabbed onto the snake's neck and pulled Orochimaru forward. The chakra had filled his entire right hand, swirling around chaotically.

Orochimaru was jerked forward by the toad sannin. He saw the ball of chakra in the man's hand. With nothing else left to do, he swung the sword at Jiraiya.

Jiraiya couldn't block, his left hand held the snake and his right, the ball of chakra. So he decided to take a little risk. He lunged forward, towards the incoming attack, and brought his right hand forward.

"RASENGAN!", yelled Jiraiya as he slammed his hand into Orochimaru's stomach.

Orochimaru felt his stomach being ripped to shreds. His sword finished its arc and sliced deeply into the other man's shoulder.

Jiraiya felt the sword enter his shoulder. He had avoided a fatal injury by lunging forward, but it still hurt like hell.

Jiraiya smiled at the dying man in front of him, "Goodbye old friend."

"No! I won't die I won't ever die like this. I'm immortal.", yelled the insane man.

Jiraiya removed his hand from the man's gut and let the lifeless body fall to the floor limply. He took the sword out of his shoulder and threw it at the ground. The poison had started to spread, he could feel his right side go numb.

"Hope Tsunade can take care of…", Jiraiya stopped short as he saw a strange sight in front of him.

Five men and a woman, wearing black colored cloaks with red clouds patterned randomly, were heading east of him. They were camouflaged by the large numbers of fighting ninja. 'Akatsuki', he thought to himself.

Jiraiya quickly ran after the Akatsuki members. Once in view, he threw a shuriken at the party. It was caught by the blue haired woman.

"Heh. Didn't know the Akatsuki were taking sides now.", said Jiraiya.

The procession of Akatsuki members turned around, staring at the person who had spoken.

The man standing in the middle spoke, "Ah. Jiraiya-sensei. Sorry but we don't have time for you right now."

Jiraiya was shocked at what he saw, "Nagato?"

The man remained emotionless as he said, "We are Pein."

'Pein! That's the leader.', thought Jiraiya. "Why are you here Pein?"

"None of your concern. Goodbye then.", said the man as he started to leave.

With a burst of speed Jiraiya was next to the man, his kunai was held in place by the long haired one. The man seemed to be using his bare hands to block the kunai.

(Okay this is what I'm gonna be using from now on:

Long pony tail one (Summoning) – Killed by Kensei, Replaced with Konan(Origami)

Spiky haired guy(Healing, angry all the time) – Alive

Fat guy (Shield, absorbs attacks) – Killed by Kensei, Replaced with Small one(Genjutsu)

Leader(Controls Rain) – Alive

Long haired guy(Taijutsu) – Alive

Bald one(Can detach and shoot his hand) – Alive)

"Jiraiya, I will be forced to kill you if you stand in my way.", replied the leader.

"You look like Nagato, but you act differently. Where's Yahiko?", asked Jiraiya.

"We are Pein. Get ready to be killed.", replied the man.

Jiraiya jumped back as the long haired man aimed a kick at him. He threw his kunai at the man and went through the summoning seals. "Kuchiyose no Jutsu!"

Gamabunta appeared in the midst of the battlefield, crushing dozens of ninja under him.

"_Jiraiya! You dare call after…",_ started off the giant frog.

"This is serious. We need to kill those men.", said Jiraiya in a completely serious tone, pointing at the six studded Akatsuki members.

Gamabunta noticed the tone in Jiraiya's voice and quickly hoisted the man atop his head. _"Oil?"_

"Yeah.", replied Jiraiya as he went through some more hand seals. "Katon: Gamayu Endan!"

Gamabunta shout out the massive wave of oil towards the six ninja. Jiraiya set it aflame.

None of the six, beside the leader moved. He brought his hands up and immediately dark clouds gathered, bringing rain down upon the entire battlefield. The flame was completely extinguished.

"Gamabunta, as soon as the rain stops, you take care of the blue haired girl. I'll manage the rest.", said Jiraiya in a hushed voice.

"_Jiraiya, these guys look tough…",_ said the giant frog.

"I know.", replied Jiraiya as he jumped down from the frog. He bent his knees and landed on the ground with a soft thud.

The leader immediately brought his hands down, stopping the rain. The four other men quickly split up. The blue haired woman held her hands up as she slowly started to turn into paper.

"No, don't do that Konan.", said the leader in his emotionless voice. But it was too late for that. The giant red frog immediately shot out a wad of oil from his mouth, completely drenching the woman.

Konan couldn't activate her jutsu anymore, she had been rendered useless. The frog quickly brought down it's paw, pinning her to the ground.

'Five more to go.', thought Jiraiya, staring at the leader.

At this point, people had started to stop and watch the fight between the two parties.

Jiraiya lunged at the man ahead, rasengan in hand. The leader quickly dodged to the side and punched the man in his side. The punch wasn't very powerful, but the man managed to deliver five before Jiraiya jumped back.

'Shit he's fast!', Jiraiya thought to himself.

Another man suddenly appeared by the leader's side. He had long, thin, orange colored hair. Jiraiya noticed that the remaining four men were standing in a circle around him. Ninjas had moved out of the way, now completely engrossed in the fight.

Jiraiya frowned slightly, he didn't like being surrounded. The long haired man suddenly disappeared into thin air. Jiraiya quickly brought his right hand up, receiving a sharp blow to it. He felt the bone crack slightly. Another punch came flying at him, connecting with his stomach.

'Too fast, I need to go faster.', thought Jiraiya. 'But I need some time.'

Jiraiya knew what had to be done. He pumped some chakra in his hand and suddenly held his palm out. The long haired man's face collided with the open palm, breaking his nose. The man jumped back a few steps, showing no sign of pain. Blood was flowing freely from his nose.

Jiraiya smiled a sad smile, the men had given him a temporary pause. "You've changed Nagato, where's Yahiko?"

"We are Pein.", replied the leader.

Jiraiya sighed, he hated having to fight people younger than him. "Why are you doing this?"

"To end the war. To help people realize what pain truly is.", replied the leader.

"You're going to destroy the world the way you're going about this.", shouted Jiraiya.

"People learn from their mistakes. Only from their mistakes. I will use the power of the tailed beasts to end the reign of humanity. The environment will be restored, survivors will be few. People would've learnt the true meaning of pain. About what you asked earlier, Yahiko, I seem to remember that person vaguely. I think he's dead now.", said the man stoically.

Jiraiya's face turned into one of unbridled anger. He strained to control his voice, "He died? You let him die? After the promises you made to me, ensuring me you'd never let your comrades dies. Nagato, no.. Pein, you aren't suited for this world.", said the man.

He clasped his hands together and called out, "Hermit Mode Activated."

The man's chakra tripled, everyone on the battlefield could feel it.

--

Tsunade felt the increase in chakra. 'Jiraiya? No can't be', she assured herself, continuing to pummel the living daylights out of some unlucky ninja.

--

Sarutobi felt it too, but having grown too familiar with war, dismissed the occurrence.

--

Kakashi immediately picked up the chakra signature. He had been trained by the Yondaime, and many times had come in contact with the toad hermit. He even had the honor to fight alongside the man, once during the second great shinobi war.

He had seen the man unlock his Hermit Mode, and never again had he felt chakra that lethal, in his entire life. Even Sarutobi hadn't ever shown him anything like that, although that was mostly because the old man kept more than 75 of his chakra hidden.

He knew something was wrong for the sannin to resort to this. He quickly entrusted his part of the area to Gai and headed for Jiraiya.

--

(With Jiraiya)

Jiraiya gave a huge, toothy grin to the man in front of him.

Pein found this to be slightly unnerving, but didn't show it.

"Why do you act like an idiot even during such a critical time Jiraiya?", said the leader, knocking off all honorifics from the sannin's name.

Jiraiya's face turned back into a serious one, "I was showing you the last smile I would ever show you."

Jiraiya lifted his legs up one by one, taking off his sandals. He dropped them to the floor. Before they could touch the ground, the white haired sannin had already planted a kick to the long haired man's face.

The man was thrown to the ground, his jaw shattered.

Jiraiya turned around to see one of the men missing from the circle. He felt strange as the universe around him seemed to change. Everything went pitch black, he couldn't see or touch even himself. On instinct alone, he jumped to his side, as he felt a cold metal blade snick his side.

'Genjutsu', realized Jiraiya. He knew that none of the Pein's were carrying a blade with them. He quickly went through his summoning seals and shouted out. "Kuchiyose no Jutsu: Ni Dai Senin!" (Summoning technique: Two great sages)

Two small frogs, actual frog sizes, popped up on either side of the toad hermit's head. One of them wore a small black jacket, the other wore a pink night-gown and a shower cap.

"_Jiraiya-chan? It's been long since you summoned us? You call us out for a drink?"_, asked the frog in the black jacket.

"_You're not allowed to drink at this time of day!",_ shouted the frog in the gown.

"_I know woman! Just shut yer trap for a second will you!",_ shouted back the male frog.

"Uhm.. sorry to call you both out. But I need help, I'm fighting the rin'negan kid and I'm stuck in a genjutsu.", said Jiraiya.

"_Ah the rin'negan one? That's pretty serious then."_, agreed the male frog.

"_Why didn't you say so before?"_, shouted the female frog, waving her hand at the pitch black around her.

Jiraiya seemed to return to the real world, just in time to side-step a punch from the long haired man, who seemed to be completely healed.

Jiraiya jumped back a few steps. He heard something head towards him and immediately shouted, "Hari Jizo!" (Spiked jizo)

His long, spiky white hair quickly wrapped around his body. He felt something hit the thick shield of hair. He quickly changed his justu, "Wild Lion's Mane", he muttered.

The hair changed from its defensive functions to a more offensive one. It quickly wrapped it self around the object that had collided with him.

As the hair moved from Jiraiya's line of sight, he saw what the object was. It was a person's fist. It was connected to a chain that linked it to the bald man. Jiraiya quickly commanded the hair to grow. The hair stretched as it crawled across the chain and encased the bald shaped man. With a roar from Jiraiya, the hair transformed into thousands of needles that turned the man into a human, or whatever he was, pincushion.

'Four to go', thought Jiraiya to himself. The hair retracted back to its original position.

He caught movement at the corner of his vision. He turned around to see the spiky haired man standing next to the recently deceased bald one.

"_He's healing him kid!"_, shouted the small male frog.

"_No shit!"_, said the female one.

"_Shut it woman!"_, shouted the male frog again.

"We need to kill him off, or it's going to get tricky.", said Jiraiya. He quickly reached into a small compartment near his sleeves. He opened it and dipped his little finger into its contents.

He brought the finger to his left cheek and drew a single straight line from his eye downwards. He then drew another from the corner of his eye, it went down straight, then perpendicularly cut the other line, slightly less than halfway through. It looked like a '4'. He repeated the process for his right cheek as well.

He nodded towards the frogs and shouted, "Hermit Arts – Deep Fryer!"

He quickly took a deep breath and released a huge torrent of oil from his mouth. The male frog released a mighty gust of wind, and the female frog, a giant stream of flame.

The three ingredients supplemented each other excellently. The huge roaring flame that arose blinded almost every single ninja in the vicinity. It burnt the bald man and the spiky haired one at the same time. They fell to the ground lifeless, charred.

The spiky haired one however, stirred again. He slowly began to heal, his injuries disappearing at a slow pace. Jiraiya saw this but didn't have time to do anything about it.

He had left his back open to the other men. The long haired man punched Jiraiya in his back, sending a wave of pain through his entire body.

Jiraiya felt the punch vibrate. His spine cracked and he fell to the floor. Blood started to fill his throat. He gurgled out the next set of words, "Ni Dai Sennin, I request you both to return home. However, I would like to trouble you one last time."

"_No kid we aren't leaving you with these people all alone."_, said the male frog.

"_I agree with the old frog, for once."_, replied the female frog.

Jiraiya spat out some more blood. "Sorry you two, this is already over, and I'm sure you know that too."

The two frogs remained silent.

"Yeah, lend me you…", Jiraiya stopped as another wave of pain hit him. He cringed and coughed out some more blood. "Lend.. me yo-your back.", said Jiraiya.

The two frogs looked at each other sadly.

"_I'll stay here."_, said the male frog. The other frog simply nodded, in no mood to argue.

"_Be sure to drop by again Jiraiya-chan. I'll cook something up for you."_, she said in a sad voice. Tears threatened to fall from her eyes, but she disappeared in a puff of smoke before they could be seen.

The old, male frog jumped down from Jiraiya's shoulder and quickly took of his jacket.

Jiraiya's index finger lit up with a blue flame. He started to engrave the message into the old frog's back.

The frog didn't make a single noise, not even a slight tensioning of his muscles, as the message was etched into his skin. When he felt Jiraiya's finger stop moving, he turned around and put his jacket back on.

He looked sadly at his student, who simply smiled back at him.

"_Goodbye Jiraiya-chan. You were always my favorite student."_, with that the old frog patted the man's head and disappeared.

"_Goo—goodbye Jiraiya-sama."_, said the giant red Gamabunta, his tears freely falling. He bowed down, and with his last respects paid, disappeared in a cloud of smoke, releasing the blue haired kunoichi from his hold.

Jiraiya looked up to see the leader, holding his hand out. He gave the man a large smile, and then croaked out in his broken voice, "Heh, I gu-guess I broke my pro-promise, Nagato. Couldn't resist smil-smiling at my cute student again."

"NO!", shouted the devastated Naruto. The boy quickly rushed towards the orange-haired man and his fallen sensei.

The man showed no signs of having heard Jiraiya. A large black colored bolt shout out from his palm, piercing Jiraiya's back. Jiraiya closed his eyes, his breathing stopped, a wide smile etched onto his face.

Naruto skidded to a stop beside Jiraiya. He knelt down on the floor next to him and checked his hand for a pulse. There was none. Jiraiya was gone.

The boy felt his heart skip a couple of beats. Jiraiya was dead? It didn't seem to add up. Confusion was clear on the boy's face as he went into denial. He closed his eyes, hoping this was just a bad dream. Jiraiya's lifeless body was still there when he opened them Tears welled up and fell to the ground. The boy silently sobbed at his tutor's side.

Pein seemed to recognize the boy; he spoke up, "Ah Naruto-kun. Pleased to meet you, I am Pein. If you'd just quietly come with me."

Naruto stared at the man, his tears stopped flowing.

"You..", said the boy. "You killed Jiraiya."

"Yes. So you must know that resistance is futile.", replied Pein.

Naruto formed a cross-ram seal and summoned two clones. They went to pick up Jiraiya's body.

The leader seemed to notice this and quickly appeared next to them. He gave two quick shots to either clone's chest, dispelling them. The man caught Jiraiya's body.

"You have two of my bodies. This seems like fair collateral.", said the leader.

Naruto growled, red chakra began to form around him. **"I will kill you!"**, shouted the boy.

A tail popped out from the end of the blonde's spine. Another followed, then another. Three tails swished around menacingly.

'**Kit this is bad, you don't have control over the chakra anymore. You can barely control one tail.'**, said Kyuubi worriedly.

The long haired Pein quickly appeared next to the boy. "We have a problem. The boy seems to be accessing the Kyuubi's chakra."

"I can see that..", replied the leader.

"Also, more of the Konoha ninja seem to be appearing. Hatake Kakashi is on his way here and soon the other sannin and former Hokage may enter the fight as well. It could get troublesome.", continued the long haired man.

"Very well. Let's make our leave for now.", replied the leader.

The leader quickly returned to the other men and informed them of the new developments. The small haired man held his hands in a ram seal and muttered some words.

Naruto had lost all sense of his surroundings. He knew that the man in front of him was an enemy. He knew that he hated, loathed the man, but he couldn't remember why. He was ready to attack when the world around him went pitch black.

'**It's a genjutsu! Flare your chakra to get rid of it kit!'**, shouted Kyuubi, but the crazed boy didn't hear him.

Naruto lashed around wildly, not able to see anything. His strong sense of smell however, picked up a man approaching him. He waited.

The long haired man silently approached the dazed boy. He held his palm out but was shocked when the red-coated blonde swiped at him. Three deep gashes appeared on his side.

He stepped back painfully, then brought his hand up and shot out a black bolt from his palm. It stabbed the boy in his left side, leaving from his right. His job here was done.

He quickly called for the remaining members. The spiky haired one appeared beside the man first. He held his hands near the man's wounds, healing them.

"Something's wrong. The wound isn't healing. The Kyuubi's chakra is preventing the wound from closing. We will have to do it manually.", said the bald man.

The leader nodded and spoke, "Let's head back to base first." And with that the six Akatsuki disappeared.

Naruto lay on the floor, twitching slightly, still trying to mindlessly attack the man. The red chakra coating the boy had healed most of the wound. Naruto saw the black-cloaked men disappear. With his sole purpose gone, he quickly entered unconsciousness. The tails receded and the red colored chakra sank back into the boy's skin.

Kakashi hurriedly broke past the spectators to see what was happening. He saw Naruto laying face down on the floor, covered in blood. He quickly ran to the boy's side and checked for injuries. He found none, they'd been healed.

He looked around for Jiraiya but couldn't spot the man anywhere. He did however spot the man's red sandals lying on the ground a few feet from Naruto. He feared that the worst had come to pass.

The on looking ninja resumed their fighting. The Konoha ninja watching had shed tears when they saw the sannin die. However they knew that it was impossible for them to do anything about it. They hardened their spirits and continued fighting again.

Kakashi quickly picked up Naruto and headed for Tsunade.

--

Tsunade was surprised when a small frog popped up beside her. However she quickly realized who the frog was and gave a small courteous bow. The frog spoke before she could.

"Tsunade, I have some bad news for you.", said the frog.

"Did Jiraiya use on of the summons to help him peek again?", asked Tsunade, ready to bestow her punishment upon the white haired man.

"No, Jiraiya-chan died in battle against Pein.", said the frog sadly.

"Haha, I see. Jiraiya put you up to this?", asked the woman with a grin. Her expression quickly changed when she didn't receive any reply from the frog.

An enemy shinobi took this opening as a chance to attack. He brought his kunai for a downward slash at the blonde Hokage.

Tsunade quickly caught the man's head and crushed his skull without sparing a glance. "He.. Jiraiya is de-dead?", asked the woman unbelievingly.

"I am afraid so. He left me a message. I will come to meet with you again later and show you the message.", said the frog sadly as he disappeared in a puff of smoke.

The blonde woman put on a straight face, albeit a slightly sad one, as she continued to fight alongside the Konoha ninja.

A few moments later, she saw Kakashi appear carrying Naruto.

Worry quickly took over as she rushed towards the jounin. "What's wrong with him?"

"Nothing, he's just unconscious, although I wanted to confirm that with you.", said Kakashi.

Tsunade quickly opened the boy's eyelids and checked his pupils. She then felt for a pulse and nodded at the man. "He's alright. He'll be awake in a few hours. Leave him with the medics."

"Yes Hokage-sama. Also, about Jiraiya-sama…"

"Yes. He's… dead.", replied Tsunade slowly.

Kakashi's one eye lowered with sorrow. He turned around silently and walked towards the medic tents.

--

(Later that night, Konoha)

The ninjas had stopped fighting for the night, as both sides returned to their respective camps.

The Konoha jounin, Sarutobi and Tsunade had all gathered to honor Jiraiya. They closed their eyes and prayed silently for the man. His body was not there, but they still prayed for the heroic man.

Each jounin took the news differently. Kakashi was most affected amongst them all. Jiraiya had been a mentor to the jounin.

Kakashi quietly settled down in his tent. Far from the eyes of others, he turned on a small lamp. He took out the icha-icha book from his weapons pouch, and began to read silently. No giggles were heard from the man.

Sarutobi sighed deeply, another one of his students, and close friends had been taken away pre-maturely. He felt sad, extremely sad. He closed his eyes and sat down on the ground remembering all the happy moments he had shared with the man.

Tsunade after honoring Jiraiya split up from the group and headed to a small thicket of trees. She sat against one of them and took out a bottle of sake. She poured the sake into a small cup. She kept pouring, the cup began to overflow. Tears flowed down her face, dropping to the ground along with the sake. "Jiraiya.."

Naruto stirred slightly, then remembering what had happened quickly shot up. He looked around for the Akatsuki members, but saw a different set of surroundings. He saw Sarutobi sitting next to him. "Old man what's going on?"

"You were stabbed by Pein, you've been asleep for hours.", said the man sadly.

"So then the pervy-sage is…"

"Yes. Sadly so."

Naruto felt anger burn inside him, "We need to find that bastard and…"

"No Naruto, Pein's already gone. Besides which, you can't match his strength.", interrupted Sarutobi.

"I don't care, I'm leaving.", said Naruto angrily, as he got up slowly.

"I'm afraid this would happen. Yamato please restrain Naruto.", said Sarutobi.

"Yes sir.", replied a man with a wooden hitai-ate and side protectors. He held his palms out as a beam of light shot out, heading straight for Naruto. It seemed to absorb all of the boy's rage and energy.

Naruto felt something weird attack him, then passed out again. Yamato quickly caught the boy and placed him back in the sleeping bag.

"You're going to have to make sure Naruto doesn't participate in the fighting Yamato.", said Sarutobi.

"Yes sir. I'll leave behind a wood clone to keep watch on the boy.", replied Yamato.

--

(With Neji, Ten-ten, Rock Lee)

Hyuuga Neji lay on a bed, under careful watch of three medical ninja. He had been critically injured in the fight against Sasuke. Had Rock Lee not jumped in during the last second, the Hyuuga would definitely have been dead by now. Ten-ten anxiously sat on the ground a few feet away, accompanied by Rock Lee.

Sasuke had left the battlefield after Rock Lee interrupted the fight. He had had enough for the day. On returning to the camp, he found that Orochimaru had been killed. The troops were in a state of panic. Taking up the task eagerly, Sasuke had agreed to be the next Kage of the Sound Village. The weakest Kage in the history of the shinobi world.

"Did you report everything?", asked Ten-ten in a worried whisper.

"Yes, don't worry about it Ten-ten-san. I told the Hokage about everything. Also, I'm sure that Neji will be alright, so don't worry.", replied Rock Lee.

Ten-ten smiled at the boy, "Yeah, thanks Lee."

"No problem.", replied the boy. He suddenly tensed and lifted his right hand up, catching a stone.

"What is it?", asked Ten-ten.

"Nothing. Just a stone.", replied Rock Lee, "Must've fallen from a tree."

"Oh, alright.", said Ten-ten as she returned her gaze to the Hyuuga.

Rock Lee found a note attached to the small stone. "Meet me near the bunch of trees behind you – Naruto.", it read.

Rock Lee got up from his seat next to the girl and stretched. "I'm going for a walk, I'll be right back."

"Alright.", replied Ten-ten.

Rock Lee quickly headed towards the trees. He walked for another minute before Naruto made himself known. "Naruto-kun what are you doing here?"

"Listen Lee, I don't have much time to explain. I'm supposed to be sleeping right now, guarded by some man named Yamato. That's not the point, the point is, I'm.. leaving Konoha.", said Naruto.

"YOU'RE LEAV…"

Naruto quickly covered the loud-mouthed boy's mouth with his hand.

"Yes. It's not because I hate Konoha. No, it's because I love the village more than anything in the world. I'm being chased by dangerous men. I will make sure Konoha is not affected because of me. Do not tell anyone I talked to you about this. I may be gone for a while now, but when I come back, I'll be a man capable of protecting the entire village. A man capable of being burdened with the task of Hokage.", said Naruto in a determined voice.

Rock Lee nodded, "What can I do for you?"

"I need you to be my eyes and ears inside Konoha. Also, tell Shikamaru and Chouji about this in detail. They're the only ones I want you to discuss this with. Oh.. also tell Gaara from the Sand village. Not his brother or sister, only him.", said Naruto in a hushed voice.

"Gaara..", said Rock Lee in a weird tone.

"Oh right, he wanted me to tell you something. He wanted me to say that he is extremely sorry for having done what he did to you. He says that he won't be angry or upset if you refuse to trust him, but he wanted to make sure that you knew that he was sorry.", explained Naruto.

Rock Lee laughed quietly, "It's alright. Also, I will make sure that all your orders are carried out Naruto-san. The very best of luck to you on your trip, my eternal rival."

"Heh. I'll be trusting you four as my guardians. Make sure you protect Konoha and Sand till I return. Thanks for the well wishes. Goodbye Lee.", said Naruto as he quickly took off.

Lee returned to Ten-ten's side and sat down. He would relay Naruto's message after the girl had gone to sleep.

--

Naruto quickly ran through the forest. He glanced back at the village of Konoha and the enemy ninja on the other side of it. He would miss the village, his friends, his teachers.

But this had to be done. He'd travel and keep Jiraiya's spy network alive. He'd train and perfect the sage arts. He'd master summonings and ensure the frogs trusted him. He'd strive to walk the path Jiraiya did.

He let a tear escape, mourning for the man once again. Then after having reminisced enough, he wiped the tear and continued his journey.

--

(Konoha Camp)

The Naruto, or rather the Naruto clone opened its eyes and spoke. "Jii-san, I wanted to leave you a message."

Sarutobi looked around at the boy. "Naruto?"

"Jii-san I wanted to tell you that I may be gone for a while. But don't worry about me, I will survive. I have travelled enough with Jiraiya-sensei to know how to do so. I have also travelled enough to know how to remain hidden. Please don't waste your time searching for me, take care of Konoha and of Tsunade-baa-chan. Also tell her that I'll avenge Jiraiya's death for her.", said the clone.

Sarutobi was confused at what the boy was saying. "Naruto what are you…"

However, his questions were answered as the clone lay back down and disappeared in a puff of smoke.

"Oh.. SHIT!", cursed Sarutobi loudly. The man quickly jumped to his feet.

Naruto however by now, had already put enough distance between himself and Konoha.

--

(Rain Village)

The five men and woman stood in an oval room. The long haired man lay on the floor in between them, dead.

"Apparently the injuries received from Jiraiya and then the Kyuubi container, were far too fatal for him. I can't help him anymore.", said the bald man.

"Hmm, that is disappointing. We don't have any other worthy bodies left.", said the leader.

"Well, we do have one.", replied the bald man.

The men in the room went silent.

"Can you fix him up?", asked Konan.

"Yes, I'm pretty sure I could. So should I?", asked the bald man. All of the Akatsuki members looked at the leader questioningly.

"This could be.. interesting.", replied the leader.

--

That's chapter ten. Sorta small, but I'll make the next one bigger I promise.

Also, I hate to having killed of Jiraiya. He's one of my fave characters, and the way he fought in the manga, was just… awesome. But I can't have Pein being under-estimated, or Naruto being a hero all the time.

Khe, I feel sad now. Sorry Jiraiya, I really am.

Read and Review. Thanks.

Till next time.


	11. Chapter 11 : Kensei

Chapter Eleven – Kensei

Please read and review, thanks.

Disclaimer- Don't own Naruto or any other anime/games/manga mentioned in the chapter or story.

Key-

"Normal Talking"

'Thinking/Mindscape talking'

'**Kyuubi Talking'**

"_Summon Talking"_

(Announcements concerning place and time changes. Also author ramblings)

--

(Konoha Camp)

"I want two teams to be sent out. One will check in Sand and the other in Waterfall.", said Sarutobi.

"But sir we don't have people to spare.", said an ANBU member.

"Then send just two to each place. These are orders from the Hokage.", answered Sarutobi.

"Yes, sir. We'll find Uzumaki Naruto.", said the ANBU, disappearing out of view.

"Ugh. He's nowhere in the camp. He really did leave.", said Tsunade, walking up to the old man.

"Yes. He gave me a message too. Must've gotten away when he woke up earlier.", said Sarutobi.

Tsunade sighed, she had had to much to deal with for one day. He eyes were still slightly red from having cried for her lost teammate.

"Oh right, he also had a message for you. He said he'd definitely get revenge for Jiraiya and that you would have to take care of Konoha till he returned.", added Sarutobi.

"Stupid boy.", said Tsunade with a small smile on her face.

--

(Random Forest)

Gamabunta sat in the clearing amongst the trees. The small blonde stood in front of him.

"_Naruto. What the hell do you think you're doing? Running away from Konoha like that. Those Akatsuki bastards will kill you before you can make it to the next village!"_, shouted the frog.

"Don't worry about them. In my travels with Jiraiya I picked up enough information about the Akatsuki to get by. They attack only once every three years. Which means I have another three years to train.", answered Naruto rapidly.

"_Even so, they wouldn't let an opportunity like this pass so easily."_, said the frog.

"Don't worry about it. I called you here for information regarding Kensei. I was going to ask Jiraiya, but he's…."

"_Yeah kid, I know. And I'm sorry but I really can't tell you anything about…"_

"Jiraiya was killed by Pein! I met Kensei in Sand, he defeated two of Pein's bodies without any injuries on him. I need to know! I also know that for some reason you frogs are afraid of fighting against him. You're the only person left to ask.", shouted Naruto.

Gamabunta was silent for a few minutes. He took in the scenery around him. He recognized where he was, Waterfall. He filed the information away, he could alert Sarutobi or Tsunade now.

"_Alright. I'll tell you what I know. But you're not supposed to have heard this from me."_, said the toad in its deep voice.

"Yeah, of course.", replied Naruto quickly.

Gamabunta sighed deeply then spoke again, _"A long time ago, around the same time as Jiraiya there was this small boy, Kensei. He wasn't a very happy boy; on the contrary, he was a really gloomy one. He had no friends or families. Jiraiya first met the boy on Myouboku mountain, the place where he learned his Sage Arts. This weird thing is that the path to the mountain is extremely well hidden, and no one had guided the boy. The elders were all impressed and decided to teach Kensei as well. Both boys signed the contract one after the other, Kensei first, and were enrolled. So Kensei and Jiraiya learnt together. Their friendship grew by leaps and bounds. The boys were a force to be reckoned with. They were strong individually, yes, but together they were nigh invincible. Things were fine, Kensei was happy for the first time in his life, and Jiraiya, well Jiraiya was always the mischievous one amongst the two"_

The frog stopped speaking as if remembering what happened next.

"Well.. go on!", said Naruto impatiently, engrossed in the story.

"_One day, there was a fight between the two kids. It wasn't a small fight, it was a really serious one. Both boys activated their Sage Modes and were dueling for well over an hour. Kensei had never had shinobi training before that day, so Jiraiya had a great advantage over the boy. In the end, Jiraiya managed to sever some tendon in Kensei's right hand. Kensei lost all control over the weapon he was holding and was left dying. If you've seen him fight, you'll notice he can't bend his right arm anymore. Anyway, luckily one of the elders found Kensei and Jiraiya before anything too serious could have happened. They quickly took Kensei back to heal. Jiraiya was gone the next day. He didn't ever tell anyone what the fight had been about, he didn't even stay to say goodbye. _

_This is where all the problems started. The elders noticed that Kensei's wounds had started to heal themselves…"_

"Yeah, I saw that when he fought me too.", interrupted Naruto.

"_Yes, well the elders soon found out the cause for his rapid regeneration. There was something inside him that helped him with his injuries…"_

"He is a… jinchuuriki?", asked Naruto.

"_He was. He was the container of the seven tailed demonic tiger. However, three years ago, the Akatsuki attacked Kensei, and stole the beast from within him…"_

"Wait! How's that even possible? The Akatsuki couldn't have been here three years ago! I mean, Itachi was still in the village!", interrupted the blonde.

"_Though Itachi may have still been in Konoha, there were other active members of the Akatsuki at the time. The organization was just forming and their first target was Kensei. I have no idea how they managed to pull it off, Kensei was easily stronger than most of them."_

"But, wouldn't Kensei die if the beast was pulled out from him? And why can he still heal himself? And shouldn't he be as old as.. Jiraiya by now? He looks like Kakashi's age to me.", asked Naruto.

"_Yes, he should've been dead if they removed the tailed beast, and no, he shouldn't be able to heal, and once again yes, he should be as old as Jiraiya. But, Kensei is a strange one, no one has been able to account for any day in his life after the incident at Myouboku."_

"What incident?"

"_The night after Jiraiya's depatrure, Kensei discovered the demon inside him. That night, there was a massacre on the mountain. Most of the elders were killed by Kensei. With the tiger's powers and the Sage Arts perfected, the boy was too powerful to stop. My father too was among them."_

"I'm sorry…", said the boy.

"_Kensei left the mountain after killing to his content. Since then, we have never allowed a single member of the frog clan to fight with or against the man. He's dangerous and insane."_, finished Gamabunta.

Naruto nodded slowly, "Thank you."

"_Yeah well, I best be going now. You too, should get back to Konoha. You're not ready to fight Pein, or Kensei."_

"I know, I won't make a mistake like that. Also, Gamabunta-san, there's no point in you telling jii-san or baa-chan where I am. After all, I'm just a clone.", said the boy, disappearing in a cloud of smoke.

The giant red frog looked surprised, _"Heh, that boy's getting smarter by the day."_, and with that Gamabunta disappeared as well.

--

(Konoha)

The third day of war. Konoha had suffered a great loss, Jiraiya's. The post had been taken up by Yamato, who had so far managed to keep casualties at a minimum.

In another part of the battlefield, Yugito fought off a couple of sound ninja, her dagger held loosely in hand. Her cat-like eyes scanned the surroundings, looking for weaknesses in the enemy ranks. She was covered with purple chakra and two tails lashed out behind her, decapitating people.

She killed off two ninja, her clawed hands penetrating the men's chests, while her tails grabbed onto two more. A man charged her from the side, holding a spear. It was aimed for her heart. She tried to dodge the attack, but her hands were still stuck inside the corpses, and her tails wouldn't make it in time. She closed her eyes, trying to think of something, nothing came to mind.

A black wooden staff shot out from beside her, colliding with the spear, sending it off course. The spear moved again, towards the enemy ninja, crushing his skull.

Yugito heard a sigh then a man's voice, "I know I shouldn't be sexist, but you chicks always seem to need saving. Even you jinchuuriki ones. Such a pain."

Yugito freed her hands and spun around, holding the dagger defensively. She saw no one next to her. "Who are you?", she asked.

"Can't tell you.", replied the invisible man.

Yugito closed her eyes, trying to sense the man's chakra and discern his location. She had almost found him when she felt something cold on her forehead. She opened her eyes to see the black staff pointing at her.

"Sorry can't have you doing that. Besides, you'll put wrinkles on your pretty face if you continue doing so.", said the man.

She looked at the opposite end of the staff, to see its wielder, but the man had disappeared again, along with his staff. She closed her eyes again, searching for the man, but he simply placed his staff at her brow once more. The staff seemed to pulsate and absorb her chakra.

Yugito was getting pissed, she swung around her tails widely, searching for the man, flinging aside ninjas in the process. One of her tails connected with something, she quickly grabbed onto it.

"Got you. Now tell me who you are.", said Yugito as she squeezed the man with her tail.

"Heh, that's not me.", said the man. Sure enough, the object came into view, it was a small log.

Yugito growled, "Who are you?!", she shouted again.

"I told you, I can't tell you. Although, I am an ally. Also, you have three more kills left before I can take you somewhere safe.", replied the man.

"What?", asked the confused Yugito. She dodged a kunai and stabbed a man in chest with her dagger.

"I have orders to ensure your safety after you've caused a suitable amount of damage. So I decided to set a value to that. You have two more kills left.", replied the man.

Yugito charged forward and stabbed a ninja in the gut, then quickly crushed his wind pipe with her clawed hand.

"You can try! I'll rip you into shreds.", said Yugito angrily.

The black staff shot out, it soared past her and killed a man directly behind her, the man had been trying to sneak up on the female jinchuuriki.

Yugito turned around to see what had happened, when she felt a blind-fold cover her eyes.

"And that was your last kill..", said the man as he picked up Yugito. She felt the black staff touch her again, and all her chakra was sucked away. Her tails receded, she felt completely defenseless.

"Put me down! Besides that was only two kills!", screamed Yugito.

"No, my kill counts as well. And, if you don't stop screaming I'll have to gag you too.", said the man as he left the battlefield with the squirming jinchuuriki.

Yugito could feel the rough wind in her hair, this man was fast. After a couple of minutes she was put down on a grassy floor. She felt the blindfold being removed. Her eyes protested slightly as the bright rays of the sun attacked them.

She turned around to see where she was, but she couldn't make out. All she could tell was that they were on some field. The grass was ankle high and trees sprouted off in some places, providing shade. She saw that she too was sitting under a tree.

"What the hell? Where am I?", she asked the air around her.

Nemui sighed, he took off the grass hitai-ate and pocketed it. He then jumped down from the tree, landing next to the woman.

"Yo! I'm your savior. Can't tell you my name.", said Nemui to the shocked jinchuuriki.

Yugito immediately stood up, reaching for her dagger, which wasn't there. She settled for clawing the man. The purple chakra started to envelope her once again; her fingernails grew rapidly, her slitted green eyes turned purple.

Nemui simply lifted his staff, sucking the female's chakra again. Yugito fell to the floor as she felt the chakra leave her. She growled and then decided to use one of her kunai, to finish the job.

"Ugh, just stop wasting my time.", said Nemui. "You're not allowed to fight for now, the Akatsuki might be looking for you. You know who they are right?"

"Yes.", replied Yugito, calming down a bit.

"Good. Then I don't need to bother explaining. I'm taking a nap for a bit, don't try to escape, you won't be able to anyway.", said the man as he closed his eyes.

Yugito took this chance and quickly threw a kunai at the man's esophagus. Nemui caught the projectile with his hand, without opening his eyes. "Jeez, I told you to stop already."

Yugito remained silent. After a couple of minutes, she got up silently, ready to make her escape. She climbed the tree and took off.

Nemui continued to snore peacefully, blissfully unaware.

--

Sarutobi finished off another batch of ninjas. The enemy shinobi all fell to their knees, headless. An ANBU appeared next to the old man. "Sir, we've already reported to Hokage-sama and were told to report to you as well."

"Alright, what is it?", said Sarutobi as he skewered a man with his kunai.

"We found Uzumaki Naruto in Waterfall and in Sand, but they were both shadow clones. Both left a message. They said, 'Don't chase me, you'll be wasting your time.' ", reported the man.

Sarutobi frowned slightly, the boy was annoyingly good with his clones. "All right, thanks."

The ANBU disappeared in thin air.

Sarutobi then felt two different chakra sources approach him. He saw Muchuu and Bura appear next to him.

"Yo Sarutobi-san! We can't directly report to the Hokage, and we have no idea who that Kensei person is, so we came to report to you.", said Bura happily.

"Alright, how's the situation?", asked the old man.

"Our mission was a success. Nemui managed to finish off his job as well. Kitaou and Kira just managed to carry out theirs too. Due to loss of Pein and Orochimaru from the fighting force, Konoha is doing pretty well. The Uchiha kid has taken over control of Sound.", summed up Bura.

Sarutobi nodded, all was going well. The only thing that worried him was Sasuke's mentality, the boy had clearly no patriotism.

--

(With Naruto, Random Forest)

'**So where we headed kit?'**, asked Kyuubi.

'Not sure, I'm still thinking.', replied Naruto.

'**How about Waterfall or Sand?'**

'No, they'll be expecting us there. Besides I've left a couple of my shadow clones there.', said Naruto. He jumped to the next branch. He stopped suddenly as he felt two of his clones disappear.

'**What happened?'**, asked the fox.

'I've been discovered in Waterfall and in Sand. That was faster than I expected. We need to get somewhere fast.', replied Naruto.

'**You got any places in mind?'**, asked Kyuubi.

Naruto thought for a second then replied, 'Hehe, you're not going to like it.'

Naruto quickly changed direction and headed towards his new destination.

'**No! No no no! Not there!'**, shouted the fox. He had realized where the boy was headed.

--

(With Yugito and Nemui)

Yugito kept ending up in the same spot over and over again. It seemed like the entire field was a circle. After and hour of repetitively landing next to the sleeping man, Yugito fainted from chakra exhaustion.

When she woke up, she saw that she had fallen asleep with her head on the man's chest. She blushed slightly as she felt the toned muscles beneath her. Luckily the man was still asleep.

Nemui woke up an hour later to find the woman staring at the sky. He yawned loudly, bringing the jinchuuriki out of her daze. Yugito looked at the man with disdain.

"So how much longer are you going to keep me kidnapped for?", asked Yugito.

"First of all, it's not a kidnapping. Second, you are free to escape whenever you want.", said the man with a small laugh.

Yugito didn't find this funny, she quickly summoned the demonic cat's chakra and wrapped a tail around the man.

Nemui felt the tail wrap around him. He looked around for his staff and saw it lying next to the woman. The tail increased the pressure of its grip. Nemui remained silent as he felt a rib crack.

Yugito was pissed, the man wasn't making in sign of pain. She released the man, he fell to the ground harshly.

Nemui wheezed slightly, he winced every time he inhaled. He lifted his hand and placed it above his rib, green chakra surrounded his hand as his rib began to heal.

"So you're a medic.", said Yugito, still angry at the man.

"Can't say.", replied the man.

"You know I could kill you. You don't even have your weapon.", said Yugito threateningly.

"Yeah, I know.", replied the man sitting up, his bone had been healed.

Yugito frowned, the man wasn't letting up.

'**Why don't you try persuading him another way Yu-chan?'**, said the cat within her.

'And how would that be?', asked Yugito.

'**Use your charrrm.'**, purred the cat.

'Perverted cat.'

'**Well, he's hot isn't he? You know I can read your thoughts.'**

'G-go away.', stammered the woman.

Yugito blushed slightly, though she covered it up with a sneeze.

"Well, we have another hour before our next mission. I'm going to take another nap.", said Nemui.

"Didn't you just sleep?", asked Yugito irritatedly.

"Yeah, and..?"

"Never mind. And what did you mean by 'our mission'?", she asked.

"Well, I'm sorta supposed to be taking care of you. So you're going to have to carry out any mission I'm assigned with from now on.", said the man as he shut his eyes again.

"But what about the war! What about my village!", shouted Yugito, but the man was fast asleep.

Half an hour passed by, Yugito was getting annoyed. She had no way to escape and the man refused to give her details about anything.

She fidgeted around with the hitai-ate around her waist.

'Ugh, I guess we have no other choice.'

'**Yes! Go for it!'**, shouted the cat.

Nemui felt a weight on his chest. He slowly opened an eye to see what it was. He saw the woman sitting on him. He closed his eye, going back to sleep again.

Yugito slapped his cheek gently, waking the man up. Nemui yawned as he looked around him. He saw the woman sitting on him, her hands pressed gently into his chest. She had unzipped a portion of her jacket and was leaning forward, revealing a generous amount of cleavage.

"Hmm, what're you doing?", asked Nemui, tiredly.

"I just wanted to please you.", the woman said in an angelic voice.

Nemui finally grasped what was going on, waking up entirely. The woman had started to slightly rub against him.

Nemui placed a hand on either side of the woman's hip.

Yugito was slightly surprised, the man had a strong grip, and she blushed furiously at his touch.

Nemui picked up the woman and placed her on the ground beside him. He then got up and started to stretch, leaving the confused jinchuuriki on the floor. Nemui was one of the few icha-icha paradise fans, that didn't bleed from his nose while reading the book, i.e. he could control his urges.

"As much of a gratuitous nudity fan I may be, that's not going to work Yugito-chaan.", he said, adding the familiar suffix to the woman's name.

"And don't be ashamed, many women have tried before.", added the man.

Yugito blushed slightly and growled angrily at the man.

"Alright, let's head out. We have to destroy a bridge today.", said the man.

"Why?", asked Yugito, zipping up her jacket.

"Aww, you're not going to leave that open?", said the man with a perverted smile.

Yugito aimed a punch at the man, who quickly ducked underneath it.

"Alright, easy there kitty. We need to destroy the bridge so that Stone and Sound can't send in any more re-enforcements.", said the man.

"Okay.", said Yugito coldly, slightly pissed at the new nickname.

--

(With Naruto)

Naruto approached the foggy city gates. On the gates, with thick black ink was etched the symbol for Sound.

'Welcome to Sound, Kyuubi.'

'**You're insane, if you get caught here you'll be executed. Or worse, molested by that freak.'**

'Relax fox. They're still fighting the war, so security will be light. Also, this is just a temporary hideout, just until Orochimaru returns.'

'**Still doesn't change the fact that you're insane.'**

'Yeah, that may not be as bad as you make it sound.'

Naruto quickly slipped past the guards, sure enough security was really lacking in the village.

'**Hey kit how are you going to find the hidden village anyway? I know you've been here with Jiraiya before, but you never got past the city did you?'**

'Don't worry about that, when I first fought Orochimaru during the chuunin exams, I had placed a clone on one of the four Sound ninjas. I've kept it active, to collect information on Orochimaru. I'll just dispel it.'

'**You kept it active this long?'**

'Yeah, I set aside a portion of my chakra specifically for it.'

'**Ah, your chakra control must be through the roof by now in that case.'**

'Yeah.'

Naruto ordered the ancient clone to disappear. A huge wave of information hit him suddenly, his brain was still recoiling. After another couple of seconds, Naruto straightened up again.

'Ouch.'

'**What else did you expect? It's been months. So what did you learn?'**

'I know the location of the village. Also, out of the four ninjas, Shikamaru fought the red head chick.'

'**I bet that smart-ass got his ass kicked!'**

'No, apparently he managed to defeat her. She's also the only one from those four sound ninjas left alive. She's being held for interrogation or something.'

'**Khe, the kid got lucky.'**

Naruto sighed, the fox hated Shikamaru because the boy was smarter than it. The blonde quickly turned right and continued to walk towards the hidden village.

--

(Konoha Camp, night time)

Shikamaru sat around the camp fire that his team had set up. He wasn't part of Asuma's team technically, but until the war was over no one would have time to assign him his own students.

Rock Lee had told him and Chouji everything that Naruto had said. The Nara was shocked that Naruto had left, it was something that even he couldn't have possibly predicted.

Rock Lee had given Gaara the message as well. Gaara had personally apologized to Rock Lee, who accepted the apology. Gaara swore not to talk to anyone about Naruto's location or plans.

Sarutobi and Tsunade were in deep conversation. They were talking about Naruto's situation and future missions for the Yoinokuchi. The Akatsuki already had five of nine tailed beasts. It was essential that the remaining four were protected. However, the most powerful one amongst them was currently running lose, Naruto.

"We also need to find a person to replace Jiraiya.", said Sarutobi.

"Yeah.", replied Tsunade sadly.

"Also, who is going to be the next toad sannin and spy network head?", asked Sarutobi.

"Naruto is our best bet right now. However he still needs to finish learning the Sage Arts.", stated Tsunade.

Sarutobi sighed, where could Naruto possibly be.

--

(With Kensei)

"Ugh this sucks! We couldn't find Jiraiya in sand, no one told us there was a war and now Jiraiya-chan is dead as well!", shouted Kensei.

"Yes sir.", said Rika.

"Oh and where are we right now Rika-chan? I seem to forget.", asked Kensei.

"We're in Sound. You wanted to kill someone strong, and since Jiraiya-san is dead, you wanted to kill his teammate Orochimaru-san, but…"

"But Jiraiya managed to drag that Orochimaru guy down with him too!", interrupted Kensei.

"I'm sorry sir.", said Rika.

Kensei sighed as he looked at the place around him. "It smells like fox in here."

"Fox?", asked Rika questioningly.

"Yeah, I think I spot a fox.", shouted Kensei as he pointed his umbrella towards a small redhead child.

Naruto heard a man shout something about foxes. He turned around to find Kensei pointing the umbrella in his left hand, towards him. Naruto quickly dropped the henge when he recognized the man.

Kensei laughed, "I was right!"

Naruto took out his tonfa and lunged towards the man. Rika quickly jumped in the way. Naruto saw the woman intercept his route and struggled to stop, but his momentum was too great. He collided with the woman and fell on top of her.

"Ooh, Rika-chan even we haven't done that yet.", said Kensei.

Rika blushed slightly at the man's comment. Naruto quickly jumped off the woman and offered her his hand. "Sorry, I was trying to attack that bastard.", he said pointing at Kensei.

Rika ignored the boy's hand and got up on her own, "Don't call my master that!"

"So why are you here Naruto-chan?", asked Kensei.

"None of your business.", replied Naruto coldly.

"Oh really? I heard your precious sensei got killed?", laughed the man.

In a flash, Naruto had raised his tonfa up, a near invisible wind blade was pressed against the man's neck.

Kensei walked towards the blade, as it cut deeply into his skin. Blood started to pour from the wound.

"Aww is the little boy sad his teacher died?", said the man mockingly.

Naruto resisted the urge to lop off the man's head. The wind around the tonfa died down and Naruto sealed the weapon.

"Goodbye.", said the boy, walking away from the demented man.

"How about I train you Naruto-chan?", shouted Kensei.

Naruto stopped walking and turned around. Hate was clear on his face, "I'd rather die."

"Hehe, I see you've heard some of my stories.", laughed Kensei.

The blonde continued to walk away.

"How about I let you fight me after you're done training?", shouted the man again.

Naruto stopped again, this time he was genuinely interested.

"I seem to have caught you attention Naru-chan. I'll train you and after we're done you can challenge me to a fight.", said the man happily.

"What do you want in return?", asked Naruto.

"I want Kyuubi!"

"Haha, no I was just joking.", said the man when he saw the shocked look on the boy's face.

"So what do you want?", asked Naruto angrily.

"I don't know. I'll have to think of something. So are you ready?", replied the man.

Naruto sighed.

'What do you think?'

'**He's dangerous, but he's serious about teaching you. Besides, he could've already killed you if he wanted to.'**

'Yeah, but what do you think he wants from me?'

'**No idea.'**

'Well I guess I've got nothing to lose.'

"Why do you want to train me?", asked Naruto.

"Because I'm bored and you're the only person I know here. Although it's mainly the bored part.", replied Kensei.

Naruto was slightly worried about the man's mental state. "Okay."

"Alright! I'm going to train you till you die!", shouted the man.

--

(With Nemui and Yugito)

"There it is.", said Nemui, pointing at a bridge in front of them.

"Alright, let's….", started off Yugito.

"Haha, not so fast kitty. You stay here.", interrupted Nemui. "I'm assigned to protect you 'Yugito-sama'", added the man sarcastically.

Yugito felt like wringing the man's neck, "Fine get yourself killed, there are eight ANBU there."

"I know.", said the man and disappeared.

Nemui appeared next to one of the guards, he swung his staff downwards killing the man, and then he swung it back up, connecting with a man's chin, cracking his skull. He jumped up and dodged a blade. He landed on top of a man's head.

Two of the ANBU plunged their blades at him. Nemui simply switched places with the man he was standing on. The two ANBU had stabbed their own comrade.

Nemui swung his staff, taking a 360 degrees spin. Both ANBU with their blade stuck in the corpse fell to the ground lifeless. Nemui planted his staff into the ground and went through some hand seals.

"Doton : Iwayado Kuzushi!", he shouted as he placed both palms onto the ground. (Earth Release : Rock Lodging Destruction)

Spikes shot up from the ground and impaled two of the remaining ANBU.

Nemui, palms still on the ground kicked the staff; it soared through the air and connected with the fleeing man's skull.

Nemui stood up straight and held his right hand out, the staff returned to him. He clipped it onto his back and wiped the dust from his shirt.

"You can come out now kitty-sama.", said the man.

Yugito was impressed, and she couldn't hide it. She staggered out of the bush, staring at the man with awe.

"Yeah, I get that a lot too.", said the man with a smile.

Yugito snapped out of it and just frowned at the arrogant man. "Well what now?"

"Now we'll destroy the bridge, I'll go place the exploding seals.", said the man.

Yugito quickly summoned her two tails and laid the bridge to waste in a couple of seconds. "No need.", she said with a smirk.

Nemui looked at her blankly, "Why did you do that?"

"Hmmph, to finish off the job faster of course. This way I saved you some work too, next time try and be faster.", explained the girl in an equally arrogant tone.

Nemui pointed to the opposite side of the now destroyed bridge, "We have to get back to that side…"

"Oh..", said Yugito sheepishly.

"Good job kitty-sama.", said the man.

"Hey what's with all those nicknames?", asked the woman angrily.

"Trying to find the most suitable one. I think kitty-sama it will be. What do you think kitty-sama?", asked Nemui.

However before the girl could speak, Nemui had picked her up. The man started to run towards the cliff, pumping chakra to his legs, and with a mighty roar, he leaped.

"Nooooooo we're going to die!", shouted Yugito.

--

(With Kensei)

"So where exactly is your base?", asked Naruto.

"We don't have a base. We're nomads in a way.", answered the woman, Rika.

"Okay this is a good place to begin!", shouted Kensei.

Naruto looked around, "We're in the middle of the city. Won't we get discovered?"

"Hehe, that's your problem. Use a genjutsu or something if you want.", said Kensei happily.

"Is that why you look so young?", asked Naruto.

"Nope."

"Then why aren't you old?"

"Can't tell you."

"How about you tell me why you and Jiraiya had a falling out?"

"Ah you're a very talkative boy. I'll tell you all that if you can manage to finish my training."

"Alright.", said Naruto. He quickly gathered chakra to make a disguise for himself, but was interrupted by a kunai flying past him. Naruto dodged to the side.

Kensei had his left hand held up; the umbrella was floating in the air above him. The man threw another couple of kunai at the boy.

Naruto dodged them all, "Hey, let me do the genjutsu first!"

"I'm not telling you to stop little boy.", said the man as he threw another set of kunai.

Naruto dodged the first two and then ducked as the third one went over him. Kensei saw this and quickly threw another at the blonde. His hand seemed to blue, the motion was too fast to be caught by the naked eye.

Naruto didn't even know what had happened, he had just ducked and now there was a kunai sticking out from his chest, it had pierced his heart.

Naruto lay on the floor quivering.

"Haha stuuupid boy. It's just a genjutsu.", shouted the man.

Naruto flared his chakra and the kunai was gone. "B-but how? I didn't even feel your chakra!"

"Heh, do you see a weapons pouch anywhere on me?", said the man.

"No.."

"Exactly, all of them were genjutsu."

"But they felt so real. The last one even hurt!"

"Yeah well if your mind thinks it's real, it is. That's your first weakness, genjutsu. So your first lesson will be breathing.", said the man.

"Breathing?", asked Naruto confused.

"You heard me, you're going to learn how to breathe!"

"But I sorta already know how to…", said the boy slowly, treating the man like a five year old.

Kensei smiled and shot his hand forward, stabbing the boy. He pushed deeper until his hand was wrapped around the boy's heart.

Naruto couldn't fathom what the insane man was doing; he coughed, struggling to breathe. Blood filled his wind pipe and started to pour from his mouth.

"So, tell me Naru-chan. Is this real or is it a genjutsu? And tell me when you can breathe again.", said Kensei.

Naruto coughed again, the blood loss was making him dizzy. He soon passed out. Kensei was standing with his hands folded, his left one at least. He waved the hand slightly and the wound in Naruto's chest disappeared.

He started to walk away, swinging his umbrella around pointing at random things.

Rika quickly picked up the unconscious boy and carried him behind her master.

--

(Sound village, early morning)

Naruto woke up with a start as he felt something hit his chest repeatedly. He opened his eyes and saw Kensei stamping his leg on him.

"Oi, get up! Get up. Get up. Oi. Get up.", chanted the man.

"I'm up!", shouted Naruto as he rolled away from the man's leg. He looked around to see himself lying in the middle of a street. It was early morning, the first rays of the sun had just managed to break past the clouds.

"Ugh, you let me sleep in the street?", asked the boy.

"I dunno.", replied the man.

'Crazy bastard', Naruto thought to himself.

"Yes I am.", said the man with a grin.

Naruto went rigid, had he just read his mind?

"Anyway, let's get back to training.", said the man.

Naruto thought back to what training they had done the day before. His eyes widened as he realized what the man was going to do. He tried to get up, but found the umbrella inches deep in his chest.

'Shit not again.', thought the boy. Naruto knew that it was a genjutsu, but the glint of madness in Kensei's eyes kept telling him otherwise.

"Don't faint on me again blondie. This is a genjutsu for your information, 100 fake.", said the man.

Naruto heard him but still couldn't dispel the illusion. He couldn't breathe, the pressure building inside him. He realized just how important breathing was, and how he had been taking it for granted.

He coughed and wheezed, begging for release from the torturous world.

Kensei waved his hand and the genjutsu was dispersed. "Well I guess you lasted longer, though you still can't breathe at all. Pitiful, I would've done something like this on the first try itself."

Naruto panted heavily, inhaling all the precious oxygen around him. His lungs cried with pleasure as they inflated again.

He fell back to the floor, looking up at the sky. He saw the sky darken as Kensei's face came into view. The man lifted his umbrella up and brought it down straight for the boy.

Naruto rolled away from the attack, 'Holy shit!'

"No time to rest, you're five days behind schedule.", said Kensei.

"Five days? How's that possible?", asked Naruto.

"Cause, I found you five days later than I planned to.", said Kensei happily.

'Kyuubi I'm going to be killed…', thought Naruto.

'**Haha, I know.'**

--

(Konoha)

The Sound ninja had decided to retreat. With no route left for the re-enforcements to arrive and decreasing amount of provision, it was the only option available.

They had left during the early hours of the morning, and seeing them retreat the other villages too had started their journey back home.

Casualties were high in number, the war was far from over. This four day encounter had nulled all treaties and for the second time in a decade, the shinobi world was in a state of chaos. New treaties and alliances had been formed, the struggle for arms, provisions and soldiers had begun. The war would continue, but with greater vigor.

Tsunade sighed as the Konoha shinobi entered the city once again. They had managed to avoid too many casualties, against a much greater force.

"I hate this, that bastard Danzo managed to screw us even in his death.", the Hokage told Sarutobi.

"Yes, the battle here unfortunately will stir much larger things in the months to come. I can only hope that Naruto is doing better off than we are.", said Sarutobi dejectedly.

Tsunade then reached into her open robe and took out a picture, handing it over to the older man. "That's the message that he left us."

"Ah, Jiraiya's last clue to us.", said the man sadly.

The picture was of a small frog's back. There was a set of numbers arranged in rows and columns, the two ninja had no idea what it mean.

"Do you have any clue as to what this could mean?", asked Tsunade.

"No, I'm sorry I can't decipher it.", said the man, handing the picture back to the blonde woman.

Tsunade snapped her fingers and an ANBU appeared next to her. She handed him the picture. "Take this to the encrypting and coding people, tell them to make this their first priority."

The ANBU bowed and disappeared.

"Do you have any clue of Naruto's whereabouts?", she asked Sarutobi.

"The ANBU have looked for him in Waterfall, Sand, Grass and Lightening, there is still no sign of him. We met one of Jiraiya's informants in Grass. He told us that the boy had come to visit him. Apparently, he's making sure that Jiraiya's network stays active. He's been going around telling them that he's the new head.", answered Sarutobi.

"So then can't we trace him using that?", asked Tsunade.

"No. He's been sending clones all over to do the work for him. He's making sure we can't find by sending decoys to almost every village possible."

"That stupid boy! He's twelve years old, what is he thinking!", shouted the woman.

"Well, he is a twelve year old that's been evading capture from Konoha's finest for two days now.", said Sarutobi with a small grin.

Tsunade sighed, 'I hate this job..'

--

(With Yugito and Nemui)

Nemui landed on the edge of the opposite cliff. Yugito was clutching tightly to the man, afraid she'd fall.

"We're here kitty-sama.", said the man, placing her down on the floor.

Yugito staggered a bit, leaning against a tree for support.

"Well what do we do know?", she asked the man.

"We're going to be heading back to Konoha. I will be told what to do with you once we reach there. So stay close behind me, don't get lost.", said the man as he quickly leapt up to a tree.

"What if I run away?", said Yugito as she followed the man.

"I'm faster.", he said bluntly.

Yugito frowned at the arrogant man once again.

"So which village are you from?", she asked Nemui.

"Can't tell you.", replied the man.

"Why not?", asked the woman irritatedly.

"Ordered not to. Besides what's it to you."

"Just wanted to know the name of the man I'll have killed when I get back to Lightening."

"Heh, won't do much good."

"So you're an ANBU captain?", asked Yugito, noticing the tattoo.

"Was."

"They kicked you out?"

"I left."

"Why?"

"Can't tell you that."

Yugito growled, the man continued to get on her nerves. "So which other jinchuuriki are left?"

"The one-tailed container from Sand, the eight-tailed container from Cloud, you and the nine-tailed container from Konoha."

"Ah yes, I've heard about the nine-tailed one. Apparently it was the Yondaime that imprisoned it, right?"

"Yes. His name is Uzumaki Naruto, he's still a genin."

Yugito snorted, "Ha, I bet I could kick his ass, even with the nine-tailed demon inside him."

"Sure.", replied the man sarcastically.

"What's that supposed to mean?", replied Yugito angrily.

"Well, I've heard that he's easily jounin level. Also, he used to travel with Jiraiya of the Sannin."

"The toad hermit? The one that just died?", she asked curiously.

"Yeah, that's the one."

"Wow, I guess I should meet the kid, see if he can live up to his name."

"Well, that sucks for you kitty-sama. Naruto's just recently gone missing."

"Stop calling me that! And why is he missing?", she houted.

"I don't know. Besides, I've already told you all I'm allowed to."

--

(With Neji and co.)

Neji had managed to snap out of his comatose state a few minutes ago. He was hounded by Ten-ten who had started to show fan-girlish tendencies. Rock Lee had also entered the room, smiling widely at the Hyuuga.

Neji nodded at the boy, a silent 'thank you' for saving him from the crazed Uchiha.

Rock Lee had received a note from Naruto a few seconds earlier. It had arrived on a white colored pigeon. The note asked him about the war, about Neji and about the general conditions of Konoha.

Lee had scribbled down as much as he could on the note and sent it back via the pigeon. He himself didn't know where Naruto was currently, but he planned to honor his promise to the blonde and constantly give him updates about the village.

--

(With Naruto)

Naruto, Kensei and Rika had settled down in a restaurant, taking a break from the laborious day. Naruto was guzzling down bowl after bowl of ramen.

"Thanks for paying Naru-chan.", said Kensei as he bit down on a takoyaki.

"Hmm? Wait…. why am…. I paying?", said the boy between mouthfuls of food.

"You can consider it payment for my training.", replied the man.

"Sorry to inconvenience you.", said Rika timidly, continuing to eat her bowl of ramen, in a civilized manner.

Naruto just sighed as he returned back to his meal. Kensei suddenly shot his hand up and a pigeon fell down on the table, dead.

"Hehe, I love doing that.", said the man. The pigeon disappeared with a poof, a small note was left behind on the table.

"Yeah I know. That's why I used a clone.", said Naruto blankly, picking up the note.

He quickly went over the contents, hiding them from Kensei, who wasn't being discreet about peeking at it.

Naruto nodded to himself happily, Neji had recovered, the sound ninja had decided to retreat.

"Alright! The war's over!", shouted the blonde happily.

"Nope. This is just the calm before the storm.", said Kensei from behind the boy. He was reading the note as well.

Naruto quickly looked around to see the man standing behind him. He covered up the note, waiting for the man to return to his seat.

Once Naruto was sure that he was safe from prying eyes, he finished the rest of the letter. His eyes went wide as he read the last bit again.

"O-Orochimaru's dead!", said the boy happily.

"Yeah, Jiraiya-chan managed to kill him off finally.", replied Kensei.

Naruto smiled, his respect for Jiraiya grew again. "So who's the new Kage? The letter didn't mention it."

"That Uchiha kid is.", said Kensei as he continued to devour the last morsels of his meal.

Naruto shot up, shaking the table slightly. "Sasuke joined Sound? After injuring Chouji and Neji he changed sides too? And now he's the Kage?", shouted the blonde angrily.

Kensei nodded, his mouth was full.

"I'm going to kill that bastard!", shouted the blonde, anger bubbling inside him.

"Yes, that's good. But you can't. The sharingan is mainly used for casting higher level genjutsu to break down a person's constitution. And you suck at dispelling them. Besides that, Orochimaru gave him a cursed seal that amplifies his power.", explained Kensei.

"But isn't Orochimaru dead?", asked the boy.

"The cursed seal isn't a part of Orochimaru. No, it comes from this boy named Jyuugo. Really messed up kid. He's the origins of the seal, so the seal will remain on everyone till he dies. Besides that Orochimaru isn't dead, he isn't one to die that easily."

Naruto fell back in his seat, Orochimaru still wasn't dead. Sasuke was Kage of sound. Everything was going wrong. "Hey, how do you know all this?"

"I keep breaking into the snake's base whenever I feel like killing something.", said the man simply.

Naruto sweat-dropped at the statement. "So how long do I need to train before I can fight Sasuke?"

"You need to train a year before you can beat the Uchiha. But, my training won't be complete for 3 years. So, you can go fight the boy in 3 years. That is, of course if you manage to kill me.", said the man happily.

Naruto nodded, his expression showed his concrete determination, "I will finish the training. I will kill you. Then I will beat some sense into Sasuke. And after that… I'll avenge Jiraiya."

"Hehe, that's quite a plan you got there. In that case let's get started.", shouted the man as he flipped the table. The food went flying, splattering against the walls.

Naruto had his tonfa held up, the right one was blocking Kensei's umbrella, which stuck out from the table between the two males.

Kensei smiled widely, "Alright, genjutsu time!"

--

Yeah, here's chapter eleven. Sorry about the delay, again.

My tooth aches like a… it aches a lot. Wasted two hours waiting for dentist, who didn't show up. So still stuck with a broken tooth.

Anyway, This Velvet Glove by RHCP, Negative Creep by Nirvana and Follow Me by Breaking Benjamin, awesome songs that helped me get over the pain in my mouth.

On another note, I'm finally gonna buy the DMC4 game for PC. (Believe it or not, it has better graphics and maybe some extra added content on the PC! I have a Logitech wireless rumble-pad thingey, so it's gonna be aweeeeesome!)

Once again, hope you enjoyed.

Read and Review. Thanks.

Bye.


	12. Chapter 12 : Genjutsu

Chapter Twelve – Genjutsu

Please read and review, thanks.

Disclaimer- Don't own Naruto or any other anime/games/manga mentioned in the chapter or story.

Key-

"Normal Talking"

'Thinking/Mindscape talking'

'**Kyuubi Talking'**

"_Summon Talking"_

(Announcements concerning place and time changes. Also author ramblings)

--

(Sound Village)

"Son.. of.. a..", muttered Naruto to himself, dodging the rubble from a collapsing structure.

"Haha, keep running Naru-chan.", shouted Kensei as he swung his umbrella downwards, destroying the building in which the blonde was currently hiding.

Normally people would have noticed the meaningless destruction of their city, but this was all just a genjutsu casted by the man.

Naruto knew it was a genjutsu and had decided to face it head on, until a piece of rubble had nearly torn off his right hand. He chose instead, to run about and dodge the man's strikes.

"Damn it! Teach me how to get rid of this! It doesn't disappear even when I flare my chakra!", shouted the boy.

"You'll have to figure it out yourself. I'll just give you one hint. Genjutsu deals with taking control of the user's chakra. So no matter how many times you flare it, I still control it.", the man said in a sing-song voice.

Naruto rolled aside as a giant concrete block landed beside him. He concentrated on his chakra and felt something within him change. He smiled as he flared the chakra once again. Confident, he opened his eyes. He saw a the building wall fall towards him, he quickly jumped backwards, but the wall caught his left foot, crushing it.

"Haha you failed again!", shouted Kensei. He waved his hand and the genjutsu was gone.

Naruto just sighed and fell back onto the ground. "Ugh, flaring doesn't seem to work at all. Even when I focus on my chakra it doesn't work."

Kensei yawned, looking at the sky. He looked back down at the boy, "Well I am using a Sage Level genjutsu, so it shouldn't be easy for someone with as little talent as yourself."

Naruto felt angered at the man's comment, but he knew it to be true.

"Speaking of Sage Arts, have you managed to unlock yours yet?", asked Kensei.

"No.. I've been practicing for months now, ever since Jiraiya first told me about it. I can't even feel the chakra around me, let alone use it. How long did it take you and Jiraiya to unlock yours?", asked Naruto.

"It took me half a year and Jiraiya a month.", said the man with a smile.

"A month?! That's impossible!", shouted Naruto, who still hadn't made any progress.

"Yeah well, Jiraiya used to be stronger than me.", said the man.

"Used to be?"

"Enough questions Naru-chan. Let's get back to work!", shouted the man as he stabbed forth with his umbrella.

--

(Sound Army)

The Sound army were on their way back, Sasuke leading the entourage. The troops had accepted the boy as their leader. He may have not been a strong Kage, but with the cursed seal and sharingan both, he was quite possibly the strongest ninja in the village.

Orochimaru had left no instructions on who should be declared Kage after him, as he planned to live forever. Thus, Sasuke was now the official leader of Sound. He couldn't be treated as a nuke-nin from Konoha, although he certainly was considered a traitor.

After two days of blissfully uneventful journeying, the Sound army were back home. Sasuke smirked, he couldn't wait to see what kind of privileges a Kage received. The night was dark, the sky was cloudless and starless. A full moon dotted the dark surface.

He stepped through the village gates, and the three squads of royal guards surrounding the young Kage, fell dead to the floor. Sasuke was shocked to see the slain bodies on the floor. They had all been killed in the fraction of a second. He looked around to see who was responsible for this.

That's when he saw him.

--

(With Naruto)

Naruto leaned against a wall, drenched in his own sweat. The long locks of golden yellow hair drooped to the sides of his head, droplets of sweat falling of the ends.

"You should give up. You aren't going to be able to break the genjutsu anytime soon.", said Kensei casually.

"I will! I'm.. going to… break…. the genjutsu this.. time.", panted the blonde.

"Hmm, Rika told me that I should offer you some incentive. Although, first I wanted to discuss something else with you."

"What is it?", asked Naruto.

"Your wind blades, they're still not completely invisible. I want you to train those too. So make some clones and tell them to get started."

"But, only I can use the tonfa, it doesn't replicate when my clones are formed.", said Naruto.

"Good. Tell them to make wind blades around their hands then, it's more difficult if they do it without the chakra-channeling capabilities of the tonfa.", explained Kensei.

Naruto nodded and created two batches of ten clones each. He gave them instructions, and they took off.

"Okay, you're almost able to make your wind blades invisible, two more days of practice should help you perfect it. Now for your incentive. Two days from now, the Uchiha kid will be returning here along with his entire army. I want you to take him out.", said Kensei happily.

"But you said I couldn't defeat him yet!", exclaimed Naruto.

"I did?"

"Yes…", sweat-dropped Naruto.

"Ah, what I mean is that you can't beat a Kage. But, you can beat that Uchiha kid.", explained the man.

Naruto shook his head, "I don't get what you're trying to say."

"What I'm saying is that if the Uchiha was a Kage level soldier, you couldn't beat him. But he's not.", said Kensei.

"So then why did you say I couldn't earlier? What's different form then and now?", asked Naruto.

"The difference is the guards. The reason you would've failed was because you don't have the skills to take down all the guards and then the Uchiha as well.", explained Kensei.

Naruto's face lit up with excitement, "You mean I'm ready to take them on now?!"

"No.", grinned Kensei.

Naruto felt confused, "Then why are you letting me fight him?"

"Because I'll be taking care of the guards.", said the man happily.

"You'll be helping me?", asked Naruto incredulously.

"No no, I wouldn't want to interrupt you. I'm just bored and haven't killed anything in a looong while. So I need some fun.", replied Kensei.

"Ah, alright then! Let's get training!", shouted the blonde.

"No not yet, let me finish first. The only way I'll let you fight, is if you can get past my genjutsus first. Oh and this time, I may use real weapons too. So if you can't dispel every last one of the genjutus I throw at you, you might turn up dead!", said the man with a chuckle.

"Oh shit!", exclaimed Naruto as he dodged a black bolt that shot out from the man's umbrella.

--

(Two Days Later)

Naruto had successfully managed to master the wind blades just a couple of hours ago. However that wasn't the greatest of his concerns right now. He sidestepped to dodge an attack from Kensei.

Kensei saw this and appeared behind the boy, his umbrella shot forward. Naruto jumped above the weapon, just like Kensei had expected. He quickly left the umbrella and drove his left hand towards the boy. He managed to get past the blonde's flesh. Sinking his nails into the boy, he brought him down roughly to the ground.

"So is this a genjutsu?", asked Kensei.

"Y-yes!", shouted Naruto, trying to get rid of the hand in his side.

"Hehe, wrong.", said the man.

Naruto's eyes went wide. He saw the man bring his foot down towards him, but had fainted before he could see it connect.

Kensei waved a hand as the genjutsu disappeared. "Wake him up again Rika-chan. If he can't make it by this afternoon, I won't let him fight the boy for another year at least."

"Yes sir.", replied Rika, bending down next to the boy and holding smelling salts next to his nose.

Naruto slowly sat up, looking around him. "Ugh, I failed again?"

"Yes you did.", said the man.

"How much time do I have left?"

"Around 4 hours. We've been at this for at least half a week. You're not worth teaching kid.", said the man with a laugh.

"Shut it Kensei. I'll definitely finish this by then!", said the boy angrily.

--

(Sound Army, Sound Village Gates)

The three squads dropped dead. Sasuke turned around to see a man, wearing a light blue kimono, holding up a pitch black, torn up umbrella in his left hand. Blood was dripping from the umbrella's oddly sharp end.

"Ah the Uchiha who became Kage. Have you ever heard suuuch a bad idea?", he taunted the raven haired kid.

Sasuke was about to order the ANBU next to him to stop the man, when he saw his head roll off. He turned and saw that the man was still standing there, almost like a statue.

"Hehe, kid your fight isn't with me. It's with that guy over there.", said Kensei, jerking his head slightly backwards.

A familiar figure seemed to be approaching Sasuke from within the shadows, but he couldn't make out what it was.

"I'll take care of the guards kid.", said Kense as he began to move towards the gate.

"Fine, but don't kill more people than necessary.", replied the familiar voice.

Kensei laughed out loudly, "Haha, I will. Not like you can stop me anyway.", said the man as eh continued on his path towards the Sound ninja.

The other figure finally came into view, the moonlight illuminating his face in a ghostly manner.

"Yo Sasuke-teme.", said Naruto.

Sasuke narrowed his eyes at the boy, then laughed. "Haha, the dobe wants to fight me?"

"Yeah, that's pretty much the gist of it.", said Naruto.

"I'm an Uchiha! Besides that I am also the Kage of Sound, you don't stand a chance against me dobe!", shouted the arrogant boy.

"No, all you are is a traitor. I'm going to kick your ass then send you back to Konoha.", said Naruto, unsealing his tonfa.

Sasuke pulled out a kunai and ran for the boy.

Naruto easily blocked the first two strikes with the tonfa. The third strike was aimed for his chest. He quickly brought up both tonfa and trapped Sasuke's hand. Sasuke let go of the kunai and pulled his hand out. The Uchiha then jumped a couple of steps back and held his hands in a ram seal.

Sasuke smirked and yelled, "Kai!"

The kunai Sasuke had left behind in order to escape from Naruto's tonfas exploded. The dust on the ground swirled around wildly. When the smoke cleared, Sasuke saw the blonde standing in the very same spot, completely untouched.

"Heh, you can't beat me like that mighty Uchiha. You'll have to use your sharingan too.", mocked Naruto.

Sasuke threw two shuriken at the boy. The shuriken were stopped a foot away from the boy. They seemed to collide with some invisible force and fall to the ground.

Naruto laughed and then showed Sasuke what it was. A perfectly round sphere of swirling winds surrounded the blonde boy, acting like a shield.

Sasuke frowned slightly, 'Since when does the dobe know a move like that?', he thought to himself.

Sasuke went through some hand seals rapidly and shouted, "Katon: Gokakyu no Jutsu!".

A giant fireball shot out towards the blonde boy. Naruto knew that using wind against fire would be suicidal. He dodged to the left, a part of his right arm was singed by the fire. The burn quickly began to heal.

"Ha you keep using the same move, haven't you learnt any…", the boy was cut short when several smaller fireballs were shot his way.

"Katon: Hosenka no Jutsu!", shouted Sasuke. (Fire Style – Phoenix Flower)

Naruto had been forced into the path of the fireball, one of them collided straight into his chest, burning off his shirt and cooking his skin. Sasuke smirked in victory. However, the smirk was wiped off his face when the body of the blonde jinchuuriki disappeared with a poof.

Out of sheer reflexes, he brought up his hand, blocking a strike from Naruto's tonfa. The strike was a hard one and created cracks in the Uchiha's bones.

Sasuke jumped back, wincing slightly. His left hand hurt like hell. He looked around to call for some of his guards, but all he saw was a pile of slain bodies lying on the floor. He saw the man from earlier happily slashing around with his umbrella.

He frowned, he had to do everything himself. He quickly activated his sharingan, three tomoe in each. He saw Naruto charging towards him, he smirked as the blonde's movements appeared to be in slow motion.

The Uchiha took out a kunai and positioned himself to attack the blonde. He knew where Naruto would be next, and knew how to exploit that split second towards his own advantage. He pulled his kunai back, ready to strike forward.

Naruto smiled, he was putting on a show for the Uchiha. He ran towards the boy slowly and on the last second revealed his true speed. Before he could realize what had happened, Sasuke was struck in his gut and the kunai was slapped away.

He staggered a few steps back to see Naruto smiling widely at him.

'How dare he mock me?', thought the arrogant boy, fueling his rage. He quickly ran towards Naruto, pumping chakra into his legs and arms. He brought his fist towards the blonde then followed the strike with a long chain of kicks, swipes and punches.

Naruto managed to dodge most of them, a few punches connecting. Much to the Uchiha's credit, Naruto was finding it hard to keep up with the boy's expertly timed attacks. He was faster than the Uchiha, but he didn't have the sharingan.

Sasuke saw his opening and aimed a kick straight for Naruto's chin. The blonde flew backwards through the air. Sasuke quickly appeared underneath the boy and kicked up higher into the air.

Naruto shot higher into the air, his back hurting from the powerful kick. Before he could respond, he found himself upside down, tightly held in place by Sasuke. They were on a head-on collision course with the earth.

"Secondary Lotus!", shouted Sasuke, a move he had stolen from Rock Lee.

Naruto could only move his wrists, which was good enough. He channeled wind chakra into the tonfa and muttered, "Sanctum Alpha." The blades developed two, completely invisible blades.

He twirled the weapon around expertly, creating a rapidly growing wail-like sound. Sasuke noticed this but had no time to stop the jutsu now. He felt something strange about the weapon Naruto was carrying and focused his sharingan on it. He saw massive amounts of chakra swirling about around the weapon.

Sasuke didn't get what Naruto was doing, but knew it was dangerous. Using a leg, he kicked himself as far away from the boy as possible.

Naruto was still falling towards the earth, but the kick had helped change direction of his fall. He was now falling horizontally. He quickly let the two invisible tornadoes leave the weapon, "Tonfarin Arts: Uzumaki Tornado!", shouted the boy.

The two tornadoes hit the ground, creating a crater in the soil and simultaneously blasting Naruto away. Naruto landed a few feet away from Sasuke, safely on the ground, bleeding slightly from where the tornado had come to close.

Sasuke stared at the massive hole in the ground terrified.

This time, Naruto took the initiative and charged at Sasuke. He swiped with his wind blades, but Sasuke could vaguely see the chakra using his sharingan, and hence could avoid it.

Sasuke dodged under the wind blade and ran straight for Naruto, kunai held in hand. Naruto saw the boy approach and immediately dropped the tonfa in his right hand. He blocked the Uchiha's strikes with his arm guard, absorbing the blows.

Sasuke felt his attacks doing no damage, so decided to switch to Ninjutsu. Naruto saw the boy make seals, using a foot, he kicked up the fallen tonfa and caught it in his right hand. He deactivated the wind around the blades and instead channeled the energy from Sasuke's blows.

Sasuke was on his last hand seal, and Naruto knew that. He quickly commanded the tonfa to release the energy bit by bit. Naruto swung his tonfa horizontally and diagonally, each time releasing a crescent of whiteiish-blue energy. "Crescent Moons!"

Sasuke abandoned his jusu in favour of dodging the multiple shots of energy. He managed to dodge five of them, the sixth one however managed to land a cut on his right arm.

Sasuke frowned, "Time to end this dobe!", shouted the boy. The seal on his neck started to grow as is covered half his face. However, still not satisfied, Sasuke continued to absorb the seal's power. Within a matter of seconds, his entire skin had turned a light brown in color. His lips changed to dark black and his hair grew, changing to light grayish color.

Giant webbed hands that resembled something like wings shot up from behind his back. He had a black colored discoloration on the middle of his forehead.

"**Impressive isn't it Dobe?"**, said the transformed Sasuke.

Naruto's mouth was still wide open. When he finally regained his senses, he voiced his opinion, "Sasuke, those are some daaaamn ugly wings!"

Sasuke seethed at the boy, choosing not to respond.

Naruto saw Sasuke approach him with a burst of speed. Naruto had to pump chakra to the muscles in his legs, just to evade the blow. Sasuke quickly turned around and charged again swiping at the boy. His hand managed to reach an inch away from the blonde's wind pipe, but a red color tail held it in place. The tonfa fell to the floor.

Naruto was covered with red chakra and two tails lashed around behind him.

'**Yeah kit, you are now able to control two tails freely. If you force anymore chakra though, you will lose control and will end up harming yourself.'**, explained Kyuubi.

'Ah, alright. Thanks.'

The second tail shot out, aiming to pierce Sasuke's heart. One of the wings on the Uchiha's back intercepted the red appendage.

Both boys struggle to break past the other's defenses, they were in a stalemate.

After a few more minutes of progress-less fighting, both boy's jumped back. They eyed each other and then charged again. Naruto saw the boy's clawed hand come to swipe at him and had an idea. He let Sasuke's attack hit him.

Sasuke's right hand shot forward and his claws dug into the blonde's side. Naruto smirked and using his own claws, held the boy's hand firmly in place, digging his claws deep inside.

Sasuke winced slightly and swiped with his free hand at Naruto. Naruto simply moved his head back, dodging the strike. Seeing that it wasn't affective, the Uchiha moved his right wing for an attack.

Both of Naruto's tails shot out and pierced the softer under-side of the wing. They penetrated the fleshy wing and slowly began to tear it apart.

Sasuke screamed as his wing was being shredded by the tails. His hand was still held in place by Naruto, stopping him from escaping. He ordered his other wing to attack as well.

Naruto didn't expect the attack and his right shoulder was cut deeply. He jumped back, having dealt enough damage. Sasuke too jumped back, his right arm was bleeding badly from puncture marks and previous attacks, all of which seemed to be growing. His right wing was totally destroyed, loose flesh hung from it, dripping blood to the floor.

Naruto's right side and shoulder were both heavily injured, coated in red. The red colored chakra receded until it was totally gone.

Sasuke saw this and shouted, "Giving up? Ready to die?"

"No, I'm not, but you should. Otherwise, you may not be able to continue as a shinobi ever again.", said Naruto calmly.

"Don't try to scare me dobe! I am an Uchiha, you just forfeited your life by under-estimating me!", shouted the boy as he held onto his right hand with his left one. Chakra, blackish-purple in color began to form around the Uchiha's hand.

Naruto recognized the mutated Chidori. He quickly ran forwards, towards the tonfa.

Sasuke saw the boy trying to reach for his weapon and he too charged.

Both boys neared each other.

Naruto bent down to reach for the tonfa. Sasuke held his hand upright, parallel to the ground, pointing straight at Naruto.

Both boy's collided, a large explosion, flash of light and two loud shouts were heard.

"**CHIDORI!"**

"KAI!"

The light faded and finally the only source of illumination left was the moon.

Naruto lay on the ground, his left shoulder too was bleeding now. The cause was a tanned hand sticking out of his skin, Sasuke's.

Sasuke lay a few feet away, the chakra from all the cuts had enabled Naruto to blow the boy's hand off. The Uchiha's right hand was gone from elbow down and all that was left of his right wing, was the little stump behind his back.

The remaining bit of Sasuke's hand was stuck in Naruto's shoulder. The chidori had died out when the hand separated from its master. However the after-shock of the explosion and the chidori had managed to break a couple of the blonde's ribs. It was by pure luck that one of the broken ribs didn't puncture his heart or any other vital organs.

Both boys lay there, bleeding. Naruto had a smile on his face, Sasuke's body was shaking with rage/pain.

--

(Konoha, few days later)

The Konoha streets were once again lined with people. Not as many people as there used to be, mainly because of the casualties and the tension in the atmosphere.

Another out-break was just around the corner, and the people could feel it. However, life had some-what returned to normal in the Leaf Village.

Tsunade saw some kind of gathering in the street. She quickly approached the crowd. "What's going on here?", she shouted.

People began to move aside, to give her way. Sarutobi was already standing there, and so were most of the jounin. In the middle lay a large crate.

"What's this?", asked Tsunade loudly.

"This came in a minute or so ago. It was brought here by ten men, on foot. They've been travelling for a couple of days to deliver it. It seems quite heavy.", summed up the one eyed jounin casually, reading his orange book.

"Did you ID the men?", asked Tsunade.

"No Hokage-sama. Apparently the men were all disguised as Konoha shinobi, so the guards let them pass. When we got here they just disappeared in thin air, we think that they were clones.", answered a red eyed jounin, Kurenai.

Tsunade nodded then inspected the suspicious crate. It was addressed to 'The Hokage', as it stated. She looked around for any other clue but there was none.

"Alright, step back.", she ordered all the men and women around her.

The people took a step back. Tsunade brought her hand down upon the crate, as it shattered completely. What they found inside shocked all of them.

Inside lay a squirming Uchiha Sasuke, bound and gagged. His imputed right hand had been cleaned and bandaged. The remaining half of the boy's hand lay inside a large, transparent box, filled with ice. A note stuck on the large cooler said, 'Best before Sunday.'

Another note stuck on the squirming boy's forehead stated, 'Seasons Greetings'.

Tsunade was left speechless, as were all the other spectators. Sarutobi had a small, almost invisible grin plastered on his face, "I think I know who's responsible for this.", said the old man.

"Yeah, I can venture a guess as well.", said Kakashi.

"Alright, take him to the hospital and see if that arm can be reattached. Also, guard him heavily, he is to be treated as an A-Rank liability and threat to the village.", ordered Tsunade.

Two ANBU appeared next to her and took the boy away.

"The rest of you disperse, I'll give an official statement later on in the day.", said Tsunade in a softer, yet still commanding voice.

The village people slowly scattered, mumbling about what the village was coming to.

"I want all the jounin in my office in two minutes.", she ordered again. Then turning towards Sarutobi she whispered, "We need to discuss this now."

Sarutobi nodded, as both Kage leveled ninja walked towards the Hokage tower.

"Well, Naruto clearly is showing growth.", said Tsunade.

"No, I'm pretty sure he was capable of beating Sasuke before he left the village too. I'm just glad he didn't waste any time in doing so. Sasuke was still in the early stages of controlling his cursed seal, also he hasn't yet unlocked the mangekyou. Do you think it's wise to treat his injured arm?", asked the old man.

"Well Naruto clearly left it to us to make the decision. And, Konoha is famous for giving a second chance.", said Tsunade sarcastically.

"Ah well, Naruto has once again managed to help Konoha. Although, it won't bring an end to the war, it will definitely demoralize the Sound ninja. Also, we now know of Naruto's location.", said Sarutobi.

"Yeah, he sure did choose a good place to hide. Sound, heh, we could've never guessed.", said Tsunade, smiling at the boy's guile.

"Yes, I've told some of the ANBU to make their way to Sound.", replied Sarutobi.

"Alright, that's good. Ugh, now to explain this to the people…", said Tsunade with a sigh.

--

(With Kensei and Naruto)

Naruto woke up on a bed he wasn't entirely familiar with. He looked around to see Rika standing in the small kitchen like part of the apartment. She was cooking something, Kensei sat on a chair, his legs propped up on a wooden table nearby.

"Ah, you're awake. That's good. We had a good fight yesterday. I've successfully managed to reduce the Sound forces to half their number.", said Kensei.

"Ugh, I told you not to go overboard. And where's Sasuke?", said Naruto, clutching his side.

"I mailed him back to Konoha.", said Kensei happily.

"YOU WHA- AAAH!", the boy fell back on the bed as the wound on his side reacted violently to his shouting.

"You shouldn't be shouting Uzumaki-san, or the wound will open up again.", said Rika.

"Yup, Rika-chan spent an hour dressing your injury yesterday. Apparently Kyuubi's chakra wasn't good enough to completely heal it.", explained Kensei.

Naruto nodded, "Thanks Rika-chan."

Kensei put his left hand to his chin as if pondering over something, "Hmm, Sasuke was obviously too weak for you to waste too much time with. Maybe we should've waited for him to power up a bit more."

Naruto sighed, he would never understand how the man's mind worked.

"Anyway, since you mailed Sasuke back, they'll know we're in Sound. We're going to have to leave this place now.", said Naruto as he slowly sat up again.

"Oh yeah.. didn't think of that.", said Kensei.

Naruto shook his head and sighed.

"So where we going?", asked Kensei.

"Let's head towards Grass.", said Naruto.

--

(Hokage's Office)

"Alright, as you all should know by now, Uchiha Sasuke was found today, defeated by an unknown person. We have taken the Uchiha into custody and his punishment shall be decided later. However what I have called you here for, is about Naruto.", Tsunade said to the jounin.

"So it was Naruto that beat up Sasuke?", asked Asuma, cigarette hanging from the corner of his mouth.

"Yes, it was.", answered Sarutobi from Tsunade's side.

Murmurs rang through the crowd about the recent revelation.

"Quiet down!", said Tsunade loudly. The room went silent again.

"Like I was saying, we have proof enough to suggest that Naruto is in Sound. We don't have many people to spare, as all of you are needed to guard the city. However, I have called you all to tell you to keep your eyes open. If any of you sees Naruto, you are to capture him. You are not permitted to hurt the boy, but may use a little force, if the boy resists. Remember, he's not a criminal on the run, rather he's a citizen of the village that has gone missing.", explained Tsunade.

The jounin nodded and left the room.

"We'll catch him when he tries to make his escape from Sound.", said Tsunade.

"Hope this works.", replied Sarutobi.

--

(With Naruto and co.)

The three shinobi left the village gates in a blur. Naruto quickly took the lead, showing Kensei and Rika the way. Kensei dawdled around carelessly, getting left behind every two minutes. But then, he'd put on a sudden burst of speed and be reach back to the other two ninjas' side.

"Hey, Naru-chan do you know what Grass is famous for?", asked Kensei.

"No not really.", replied Naruto, turning his head back slightly to answer.

"It's the pills.", said the man.

"Pills?", asked Naruto.

"Yeah, you see in Grass….", tried to explain Rika, but she was cut off as a loud explosion was heard ahead of them.

Naruto quickly came to a halt and the other two ninja took cover amongst the thick cover of the branches. They were in Konoha territory, which meant chances that they'd been discovered were highest now.

Naruto saw a woman appear in front of him. She was alone.

"Kurenai-sensei?", asked Naruto, slightly shocked.

"Uzumaki-san I've been ordered to take you back to Konoha. If you resist I'll have to use force.", said the woman.

"I'm sorry sensei but I can't go back just yet.", said the boy, unsealing his tonfa.

Kurenai sighed, she'd have to fight the boy. She took out a kunai and lunged at the boy.

Naruto blocked the blow with his tonfa, he didn't want to have to fight a Konoha citizen either. He continued to block her attacks, which weren't very fast or powerful.

Kurenai stopped the attack, then started to slowly fade away.

Naurto was shocked at what was happening. The woman was disappearing, her body had been a mere illusion. 'Illusion? That's it!', thought the boy to himself.

Kurenai saw the boy look around, searching for her. Her genjutsu had worked, she started to silently walk towards the boy.

Kurenai had disappeared out of sight, which was a bad thing for him. If he was captured now, he wouldn't be able to finish his training, he wouldn't be able to take revenge for Jiraiya.

He remembered what the first methos to dispel genjutsu was. He flared his chakra once, but it had no effect. He flared it again, still no change. The woman had complete control over his chakra.

Kurenai smiled at the success of her genjutsu, flaring wouldn't have any affect on it.

The second method, was to feel the opponent's presence, relying only on your senses. After having found his/her position, a simple well-aimed attack would often cause the genjutsu caster to lose focus and dispel the illusion.

Naruto tried to search for the woman. Kurenai saw what the boy was doing and immediately altered the genjutsu.

Naruto saw random ninja suddenly appear, surrounding him. They were part of the genjutsu he could tell, but they were preventing him from finding the jounin.

Kurenai was a few steps away from the boy. She jumped back suddenly as the blonde's hand shot out and scratched her skin.

The third and most efficient method. Naruto didn't want to use this on the woman, but he had no other choice. The illusionary ninja around him were preventing him from using all senses, save one. His heightened sense of smell. He smelt the woman approach him from behind and lashed out.

He managed to scratch the woman, drawing a feeble trickle of blood as the cut grew slowly. It wasn't a fatal wound, it wasn't even worth mentioning after it continued to grow, but it was all Naruto needed.

Kurenai saw the boy smile and form a ram seal.

The third step needed Naruto to make contact with his opponent. If he could manage to touch the opponent, or even better cut through his/her flesh, he could reverse the effects of the genjutsu.

Using his own chakra, which he had injected into Kurenai, via the cut, Naruto quickly took control of the woman's chakra. He first dispelled the genjutsu, then cast the same one on the woman.

Kurenai was shocked as Naruto suddenly disappeared. Ninja appeared around her chanting in some strange language.

Naruto smiled, the best part about this method was, that the person under the influence of the genjutsu, was using his/her own chakra. To put it simply, Kurenai would be under the affect of the genjutsu until her own chakra ran out, at which point she would be too tired to fight or chase the boy. The only way to counter this would be to temporarily stop the flow of chakra, which could be lethal if not carried out precisely enough.

Naruto saw the woman flail about, searching for the boy. He quickly created a clone and ordered him to take the woman back to Konoha. In the condition that she was, if she were to be attacked, she might be killed easily.

The clone quickly picked up the older woman and headed back towards Konoha.

Naruto nodded at the tree next to him. Kensei and Rika quickly jumped down from the branches above him.

"Hehe, good job Naru-chan.", praised Kensei.

"Yeah, thanks. But she's a genjutsu expert, so it won't be too long before she finds a way to get rid of it. We better keep moving.", said Naruto.

The other two ninja nodded and quickly took off.

--

(Sound village)

A white haired man sulked about in a dark deserted alley. He had seen the three ninja leave the village a few hours ago. Having made sure that they weren't returning, the man quickly ran towards Orochimaru's base.

The guards saw him and lowered their weapons, "Welcome Kabuto-sama.", said one of them.

Kabuto nodded at the guard and quickly entered the base. He opened the third door on his left and entered a laboratory. "Don't worry Orochimaru-sama. There's still a part of you inside me!", shouted the man to himself.

Odd black markings appeared on the left part of his face and his left eye turned deep yellow. His skin began to pale and his mouth began to move against his will.

"Kukuku, well done Kabuto.", replied a hissing voice.

--

(With Naruto and co.)

The three ninjas arrived at a small wooden gate. It had the symbol for Grass etched into it and was wide open. The guards were busy chatting with each other.

Naruto, Kensei and Rika all henged themselves into civilians that they saw walking around inside the village. Once they were done with the diguises, they simply walked through the gates, waving at the guards.

The guards simply waved back and resumed their conversation.

The Grass Village was an extremely peaceful one. The entire floor for one, was grassy. There were no roads, the people simply walked on the grass, no one littered, and hence the village remained clean. The atmosphere was a calm, friendly one and everyone was glad to help.

The three ninjas walked through the city and finally arrived at an affordable hotel. They rented a room and left all their luggage inside.

"So what was it that Grass is famous for?", asked Naruto as they went back down the stairs.

"Years ago there was a doctor, Doctor Friza. Friza apparently discovered a way to time-travel using these pills that you had to swallow. It was tested on this old woman, who wanted to see her future grand-daughter at least once before she died. But, the pills didn't work, instead they speeded up the process, causing the old woman to age within a matter of seconds and die. After that, Dr Friza has been altering the pills ever since, but no one is willing to try them out anymore. I don't know if Friza's still around or not though.", explained Rika.

"Ah, so just some old looney trying to play God.", said Naruto loudly. They had reached the street and were casually exploring the village.

Kensei was trailing behind, as usual, inspecting a batch of oranges on a food seller's cart. Satisfied with the quality, he paid the seller and picked up and orang, walking back towards the two.

"So what am I going to be training next?", Naruto asked the man.

"Next? No, you're still on stage one. You may have just barely managed to learn how to dispel genjutsu, but you're still not good at it. Also, you can't cast one of your own yet.', replied Kensei.

"But I don't want to learn genjutsu! Just knowing how to dispel them is enough.", whined Naruto, but Kensei had stopped paying attention.

The man was staring at an old, dusty and seemingly abandoned store. He suddenly went up to the locked door and knocked on it.

"Hey what're you doing now?", said Naruto, turning around and walking back towards the man.

Rika too was worried, she quickly ran up to her master's side.

The door creaked and opened up slightly.

--

(Konoha)

Kurenai had managed to break the genjutsu, but by the time she did so, she was already lying in a hospital bed. Asuma stood next to her.

He saw her wake up and gave a kind laugh, "Haha, you were beaten by Naruto? Shame on you Kurenai."

Kurenai frowned slightly, "He just ccaught me off guard that's all. Wasn't prepared for him to be able to counter my genjutsu. I always though the boy was bad at it."

"Yeah he was.", said a lazy voice from the doorway. The door slid open as Shikamaru, Kiba, Hinata and Shino walked in.

"Ah what are you doing here?", asked the woman.

"We-we came her to w-wish you well.", spoke the shy Hinata.

"Yeah and where's that bastard Naruto?! Did he hurt you sensei? Should I make sure you aren't injured?", said Kiba, moving in to cop a feel.

Kurenai simply chopped him on the head, rendering him unconscious. "Thanks for the wishes, but I'm not injured. Besides, I attacked the boy first, despite which he made sure I reached back to Konoha safely."

"Hmm, that doesn't sound like Uzumaki-san", said Shino.

"Yeah.", agreed Asuma. The chain smoker then turned around to face his own student, "And why are you here Shikamaru?"

"I had orders from Tsunade-sama to find you Asuma-sensei, and I knew you'd be here.", replied the boy with a sigh, he had taken the mission to avoid any bigger tasks he may have gotten.

"What's that supposed to mean?", said Asuma, looking away.

Shikamaru was a smart boy, but anyone could've easily guessed that Asuma and Kurenai were going out. "Never mind that. You have to get to Tsunade-sama.", replied the boy.

"Alright.", nodded Asuma.

"Also, Kurenai-sensei, did you manage to find out where Naruto was headed? Tsunade-sama wanted to know.", asked Shikamaru. This was the second reason as to why he had taken up the task. He could alert Naruto, if Kurenai had managed to grasp his destination.

"No sorry I couldn't.", replied Kurenai.

"Alright, and get better soon Kurenai-sensei.", said the boy as he headed out.

--

(Hokage's office)

Asuma stood in front of Tsunade's desk. "Yes Hokage-sama, you wanted to see me?", he asked.

"Yes, Asuma, I'm assigning you with a mission.", said Tsunade.

"A mission?", asked Asuma.

"Yes, we need to persuade Grass to join with us. In the upcoming fights, we need all the help we can get. Besides which, Grass has some of the most talented inventors in the shinobi world. We need to persuade them to come out of their neutral state and assist us. You and your time will be assigned to this mission.", explained Tsunade.

"Alright understood Hokage-sama.", answered the man.

--

(Grass Village)

The door creaked open and Kensei quickly entered the store. Rika was close behind him. Naruto sighed and he too stepped into the shop. The place was dark, extremely dark. He could barely make out the silhouettes of his companions. There was a click and suddenly the ceiling light flickered into existence.

Naruto covered his face, letting his eyes get adjusted to the sudden change. After a couple of seconds he looked around the room.

He saw Kensei and Rika sitting on a couch. Besides him stood a tall woman, in her mid-twenties, the one who had opened the door.

Naruto quickly walked away from the stranger and sat down on the free couch next to the other two.

The woman sat down on a chair opposite them. She was wearing a light brown knee-length skirt and a white shirt that was tucked in. She had long blonde hair that she kept tied in a single ponytail behind her head. She wore a pair of black heels and had light brown eyes.

"Welcome. You people must be new here. I'm Doctor Friza.", said the woman.

"You're the pill doctor! And you're a woman?!", exclaimed Naruto.

"Yes, I am and yes, I am. Despite what many people think, I'm not some old looney scientist.", replied Friza.

Naruto fell silent, remembering he too had a some-what similar opinion.

Kensei was looking around curiously, "So where's the pills?"

The other people in the room sweat-dropped at the man's bluntness.

"I keep them safe in a locker. I've managed to perfect them and am sure that they should work. But, no one trusts me after that incident.", replied Friza.

"Yes, we know about that. But we're ready to test them.", replied Kensei.

"You are?", asked Friza, Rika and Naruto in unison.

"B-but if you.. you know.. die, then who will finish my training?", said Naruto, hesitating to do so in front of the pills' creator.

"Yes Kensei-sama don't risk your life!", said Rika, more confidently than the blonde boy.

Friza jus frowned slightly, no one seemed to trust her, even these first-time visitors.

"Don't worry I'm sure they'll work. Oh and get my friends here a drink.", said the man.

Naruto felt his throat go dry suddenly, "Yes, I'd like some water please."

"I'm fine.", said Rika.

"And I'll have some sake with the pills!", said Kensei happily.

Friza nodded and went to retrieve the refreshments. She re-entered the room a couple of minutes later. She was holding a tray. There was a glass of water, a bottle of sake and a small dish with a pill on it.

She placed the tray on the table in front of the three ninjas and took her seat again.

Kensei took the pill and threw it into his mouth. Then he reached for the bottle of sake and quickly dropped the pill in the glass of water. The pill dissolved rapidly in the liquid, leaving behind no trace.

The others were too busy looking at Kensei's face to notice the fizzing sound coming from the glass. Kensei picked up the sake bottle and motioned for Naruto to pick up his glass.

"To the future!", toasted the man, then took a deep sip from the bottle.

Naruto too, gulped down the water, relieving his dry throat. He gave a content sigh and placed the glass back on the tray. "So you really ate it? Do you feel weird?", asked Naruto.

"Hehe, you tell me.", said Kensei with a grin.

They were confused as to what Kensei was saying, when they saw Naruto's body slowly begin to disappear.

"No you didn't… KENSEI!", shouted the boy and then he was gone.

--

(Ten Years Later)

Naruto opened his eyes to take a look at his surroundings, it was dark. He felt himself being pressed from all sides. He squirmed around to feel where he was. He felt sandy walls around him. He was trapped by mud on all sides.

Naruto paled as he realized what was happening. He was buried!

He quickly called out Kyuubi's chakra and began to dig his way up. After another minute of furiously clawing at his surroundings, he managed to make it to the surface.

He saw a man staring down at him. He had spiky brown hair, held in place with a Konoha hita-ate. The Konoha symbol had a diagonal slash running through it, indicating he was a nuke-nin. He had a pair of goggles strapped to his head, above the hitai-ate. The man wore a beige colored shirt and wore white colored shorts. He had blue sandals and a pair of black fingerless gloves.

"N-Nartuo-nii-san?", said the masculine voice.

Naruto pulled the rest of his body out and stared at the man. He realized who it was.

"Konohamaru? Is that you?", asked the confused blonde.

"Yeah it is Naruto-nii-chan!", shouted the man happily.

"Where am I?", asked Naruto.

"We're in the outskirts of Konoha.", answered Konohamaru.

"What was I doing buried here?", asked Naruto.

Konohamaru's excited expression changed to a sad one, "I was burying you."

"Burying me? But doesn't that mean that I.. I-I DIED?", shouted the blonde.

"Yes. I'm sorry I couldn't do anything about that.", said Konohamaru sadly.

Naruto had no clue what was happening, then he remembered about the pill. "Konohamaru, quick tell me what year it is?"

--

(With Kensei)

The two women were looking at Kensei with their mouths open. He had just tricked the boy into doing something that could've been fatal, and here he was humming a tune to himself.

"Kensei-sama! What…", began Rika.

"No don't call me that Rika-chan.", interrupted Kensei.

"Uhh Benito-sama what will happen to Naruto?", asked Rika, correcting her mistake.

"No idea.", said Kensei.

"Why'd you do that?", asked Friza.

"Impulse.", replied the man.

"How long will he be there for?", asked Rika.

"He'll be there for half an hour at a maximum. Although, if his future self sees him there, it might cause some really serious problems.", answered Friza.

Kensei hummed happily.

--

And that's number 12. Yeah the future thingey basic concept was inspired from Reborn. But, don't worry I won't be following the same route at all, I haven't even finished that particular arc in Reborn yet(I only watch the anime).

DMC 4 Awesomness. The game is awesome, graphics are awesome, gameplay is awesome, game plot is awesome. Basically a game that deserves a 9.5/10 (The camera view and difficulty sometimes annoys me. Also giving the game a complete ten is just stupid, I mean if you're rating the game, rate it properly you know? A perfect ten or a one just shows that you want the game ratings to fall / rise and also, what you want others to think about the game. It doesn't show how much YOU liked the game personally. So yeah.)

Anyway, hope you enjoyed the chapter.

Read and Review. Thanks.

Ja. Ne.


	13. The Skit

-Filler- The Skit -Filler-

Please read and review, thanks.

Disclaimer- Don't own Naruto or any other anime/games/manga mentioned in the chapter or story.

Yeah, so basically this is just a filler chapter. A small skit between the story characters if you may. It's not very important, you can skip it if you'd like. It may give hints about future chapters, but it isn't related to the plot at all.

So basically just a little filler till I prep up the next chappy. Enjoy.

Key-

Person name: Talking

**Kyuubi/Demon : Talking**

--

Shiro: Hey everyone, I'm Shiro, as you should've guessed. Today, we'll be having a conversation with the fan fic author.

Dguruishtar : Yo Shiro, looking good.

Shiro : You can't see me, I'm just a figment of you imagination.

Dguruishtar : ..yeah, but I can imagine you look good.

Shiro : Thanks, I guess.

Jiraiya : So why do I die again?

Dguruishtar : Ah yo Jiraiya. You died for the greater good.

Jiraiya : Of what?

Dguruishtar : Of the story.

Jiraiya : Loser.

Dguruishtar : That I am.

Naruto : Hey and when do I get to unlock my sage mode!

Dgurishtar : Yo Naruto, and I have no idea. Might stretch it out a bit. Depends.

Naruto : And why exactly are we doing this right now?

Dguruishtar : This is what I like to call filler. Also, if I can push this baby to approximately 1,500+ words, my next chapter will be able to cross 100,000!

Shiro : Hey, I have a question.

Dguruishtar : Shoot.

Shiro : I've said five lines or so in the whole story, and I'm already something of a closet-sex addict ?

Dguruishtar : Ah well, you were created by a teenage adolescent. What do you expect..

Shiro : Fair Enough.

Kensei : Yoooooooooo peoples.

Jiraiya : Ugh.

Kensei : Jiraiya-chaaan don't be upset. We can act friendly here.

Jiraiya : But you did something really bad to me.

Kensei : And what was that?

Jiraiya : You don't remember the thing that happened on Mount Myouboku ?

Kensei : Oh you mean when I--

Dguruishtar : BLAHAGAHA

Jiraiya : Yeah, when you--

Dguruishtar : WAKAKAKAKA

Kensei : We're having a conversation here…

Dguruishtar : But you can't reveal anything here… that's not allowed.

Kensei : Then just stop typing it out..

Dgurishtar : …good point.

Rika : Oh, and what exactly is my relationship with Kensei? Will I be shacking up with him?

Dguruishtar : I dunno, maybe, maybe not. But yeah you sorta like the guy. You'll find out more in the next chappy.

Naruto : About the next 'chappy'--

Dguruishtar : Are you mocking me?

Naruto : Yes.

Dguruishtar : Okay, continue.

Naruto : Yeah so I'm shot into the future and all. What exactly will I be doing there? Will I be Hokage? Will the war have ended and peace returned to the world? Will Pein and Kensei be dead?

Kensei : Aww, but I don't want to die.

Dguruishtar : First, I can't tell you any of that Naruto. Second, I've sorta already revealed that Naruto will be killing you Kensei.

Kensei : Khe, that sucks! Why am I training him then?

Dguruishtar : I dunno, seemed like the right thing to do?

Kensei : I'm confused. Am I a good guy or a bad guy?

Dguruishtar : Hmm, interesting. I think I'll shed some light on that in the next chapter.

Nero : Yo! How's life?

Shiro : Who the hell is he?

Dguruishtar : He's from DMC .

Shiro : Addict…

Dguruishtar : Yeah well, the game rules.

Shiro : You finished it already?

Dguruishtar : Pfft, no. I'm on like the starting missions. I just managed to reach that giant toad/fish mutant thing. Stupid mutant, keeps eating me up. I was this close to defeating him too, when my dog walked over the cable and unhooked it. I was like--

Shiro : I was being polite, I really don't care…

Dguruishtar : …

Shiro : Yeah, I'm cold. You made me like that.

Dguruishtar : Sigh, that I did.

Bura : Yooo.

Dguruishtar : Ah yo Bura.

Bura : I wanted to ask you when I would appear again. Muchuu wants to use his katana again.

Kitaou : And I haven't had any fighting scenes at all! Neither has Kira!

Dguruishtar : Hmm, I may put in some Yoinokuchi vs. Akatsuki action later on. That's when you guys will be brought in again.

Nemui : Hey, am I supposed to hook up with Yugito?

Yugito : NO!

Dguruishtar : Maybe, maybe not. Besides Yugito you secretly think he's hot anyway. And Nemui, you're an icha-icha reader, so you're pretty much a pervert.

Nemui : I can live with that.

Yugito : Hmmph. Oh will that Hidan guy come after me?

Dguruishtar : I dunno, there will be Akatsuki encounters again after the three year skip.

Naruto : You plan to do the three year skip?

Dguruishtar : Maybe in a chapter or two. So anyway, our time's sorta up for now. Back to work!


	14. Chapter 13 : Years Later and Years Ago

Chapter Thirteen –Years Later and Years Ago

Please read and review, thanks.

Disclaimer- Don't own Naruto or any other anime/games/manga mentioned in the chapter or story.

And here we have it, Chapter Thirteen(though it may say 14). Anyway, I hope you enjoy the chapter and hope it sheds light upon some of the mysterious parts of the story.

Key-

"Normal Talking"

'Thinking/Mindscape talking'

'**Kyuubi Talking'**

"_Summon Talking"_

(Announcements concerning place and time changes. Also author ramblings)

--

(With Naruto)

"Ten years! That thing teleported me by ten years!", shouted Naruto.

"Oh, that would make sense.", said Konohamaru.

Naruto noticed the sad expression on the man's face. "You've grown a lot Konohamaru, but why are you a nuke-nin now?"

Konohamaru sighed as he gave Naruto his hand, pulling him up to his feet. Konohamaru started to walk, Naruto followed him.

"Any Konoha ninja that is still true to the village is now a nuke-nin. The war that was started ten years ago by Danzo finally came to an end after six years. The main turning point in the war however was in its third year. That's when you joined the fight nii-san.", said the boy in a solemn tone.

"Me? I brought about change for the entire ninja world? Hehe sounds like me!", said the boy happily.

Konohamaru smiled, "Yeah, but there were more people than just you involved. Around the same time, Sasuke, Orochimaru, Pein and Madara all were at their highest levels of power. There was an organization, made by my old grandpa at that time, called the Yoinokuchi. They were the only ones capable enough of standing up to the Akatsuki."

"The Yoinokuchi?", asked Naruto.

"Yeah, from what I've heard, they were a group of people dedicated to saving the shinobi world. Well, they're all gone now. During the war, Tsunade-sama, my gramps, all of the Yoinokuchi and most of Konoha were destroyed.", explained Konohamaru.

"Baa-chan and jii-san both are dead?", asked Naruto, completely shocked.

"Yeah. We were able to defeat the Akatsuki and Orochimaru in return. But Pein, Sasuke and Madara are still alive, and around two months ago, they started the Fourth Great Shinobi War. They're aiming for the complete annihilation of the shinobi world, so that they can start it all over again. Konoha is currently under Sasuke's control and…."

"Stop! Stop for a minute and answer my questions!", shouted Naruto. There were too many things he waned to ask.

"Okay.", replied Konohamaru.

"Alright, first who killed baa-chan and jii-san?"

"..Pein."

Naruto growled with rage. "Tell me more about Sasuke."

"Sasuke was spared as most of the council voted for him to be kept alive. They weren't led by Danzo, but their minds had already been poisoned. The majority of the council voted for Sasuke to be re-instated, and he was. However, as soon as they fixed up the bastard and released him, he ran back to Sound again. He continued his training with Orochimaru and finally was powerful enough to stage a coup de tat. He managed to kill Orochimaru.", answered Konohamaru.

"Didn't Jiraiya already kill Orochimaru?", asked Naruto.

"He did. I'm not sure of the details, but someone saved Orochimaru by giving him his body.", replied Konohamaru.

"When was I killed?", asked Naruto.

"..to-today.", replied the man, tears threatening to fall out from his eyes.

"Who killed me?", asked Naruto.

"I'm sorry I can't tell you that.", said Konohamaru, looking away.

Naruto was getting pissed, "Konoha is destroyed. Most of my precious people are dead. Sasuke, Pein are still alive."

Red colored chakra began to erupt from the boy's skin, completely enveloping him. Two tails shot out from the end of his spine.

"**What the fuck is the future me doing!"**, shouted Naruto in his demonic voice. He turned around to look at the older man, **"Tell me who it was. Tell me who killed me."**, demanded Naruto.

"No.", replied Konohamaru in a firm voice. Hi expression was completely blank, he seemed to be completely unaffected by the malice chakra that was being emitted from Naruto.

"**TELL ME!"**, shouted Naruto. Two more tails shot out. Naruto had lost control.

He saw the only target in front of him, Konohamaru. He leapt at the older man, both claws outstretched, fangs bared.

Konohamaru didn't flinch at all. He held up his gloved hands and caught both claws firmly. Naruto tried to struggle but couldn't move at all. The red chakra slowly started to disappear.

Konohamaru let go of Naruto's fists, the blonde fell to the floor, exhausted and unconscious.

--

(With Kensei)

Kensei had finished off the bottle of sake and was now fast asleep on the couch.

Rika was sitting next to him, admiring the man.

"What's so special about him? And why does he act so.. you know.. crazy?", asked Friza.

Rika thought of whether or not to answer the question. In the end she decided it couldn't do any harm. "Years ago, Kensei-sama here had a friend called Jiraiya-san. They trained together and lived together on the same mountain, run by toads. They were best of friends, and close rivals to each other. Kensei-sama also used to be a jinchuuriki, although he wasn't aware of it."

"He was a jinchuuriki? Is that possible?", asked Friza.

"I don't know of that tale. But it is.", replied Rika.

"Alright continue.", said Friza.

Rika nodded and spoke again, "Kensei-sama told me, that on one of the days, during the training he felt the demon inside him speak to him. It told him that it would take control of him. The demon constantly weakened him, by uttering threats, insults and other such atrocities. Then it happened, the demon tricked Kensei-sama into doing something really hurtful to Jiraiya-san. Jiraiya-san was a man of pride, and what Kensei-sama had done to him was really horrible."

"What was it?", asked Friza, on the edge of her seat.

"I have no idea. Kensei-sama wouldn't tell me. Anyway, Jiraiya-san challenged Kensei-sama to a duel. Kensei-sama didn't want to fight his friend, but knew that, to make his friend feel better and to correct his mistake, it was the only way. So they fought, both of them were on equal footing. The fight lasted for hours. Finally, both decided to end the battle with one last strike. Kensei-sama held back, not wanting to hurt Jiraiya-san. Jiraiya-san didn't know this, so he attacked using his entire force….", Rika paused.

"W-What happened next…", whispered Friza.

"Jiraiya-san killed Kensei-sama. His entire right side was obliterated. If it weren't for the demon's healing ability, he would've been died. Kensei-sama doesn't heal his right hand completely, to honor the battle he had with Jiraiya-san. Merely preventing his chakra from automatically healing his arm eats up a fair portion of his power. Anyway, that night Jiraiya-san left the mountain, not wanting to see Kensei-sama ever again. He didn't even give Kensei-sama a second chance, or one to explain himself. Either way, he was lucky to have left the mountain that night. That night, when Kensei-sama's guard was lowered, due to the earlier battle, the demon forcefully took control of him. He used Kensei-sama to kill the inhabitants of the mountain. By the time Kensei came back to his senses, the demon had already managed to kill off most of the toads. Not knowing what to do, he ran away from the scene of the crime. Soon enough, the toads nulled their contract with him."

"..that's horrible!", said Friza.

"Yes. Three years after that incident, Kensei-sama was just a gloomy shell of a man. The demon inside him constantly took over his body, to kill off innocent people. He was treated like a demon and hated everywhere he went. Jinchuuriki are often hated within their own village, mainly because the people know what is sealed inside them. Kensei-sama however was hated throughout the shinobi nation. Word of him was spread from village to village."

"Why? Why did he get so much attention?", asked Friza.

"He was the first man inside which a youkai was imprisoned, the first jinchuuriki that was created. Hence, his reputation often always preceded him. No one cared for him, everyone saw him as the demon, not the container. That's when he met me."

--

(With Naruto)

Naruto woke up on a cold metal bed. He was in a small room, with grey walls and a grey ceiling. There was a chair and a desk set up against the wall, opposite to the bed. The only door in the room opened and Konohamaru stuck his head in.

"Ah welcome back nii-san.", said Konohamaru.

Naruto remembered attacking the boy, "Uh.. about before, I'm sorry Konohamaru. You most probably don't know but I've got the…"

"The Kyuubi sealed inside you. Yes I know. You told everyone that in one of your speeches.", said Konohamaru.

"Speeches? People listened to my speeches?", asked Naruto.

Konohamaru gave the boy a sad smile and told him to follow him. "Follow me, I'll show you something that will help clear up a lot of questions."

Naruto got up off the bed and walked behind the man. 'Konohamaru barely smiles. He isn't happy all the time like I knew him to be. Also, he almost looks sad when he see me, must be feeling guilty about me 'dying'. The future sucks.', thought the boy to himself.

Naruto bumped into the taller man's back when he suddenly came to a stop. They were at the edge of a small camp. Konohamaru was pointing upwards towards something. "Look at that."

Konoha could be seen from far away, it lay in ruin. Half the city had been leveled and the remaining half looked like slums. He then noticed what Konohamaru was pointing to. The Hokage mountain. The last face etched onto the mountain was a familiar one, Sasuke's.

"That bastard! He doesn't deserve to be honored like that.", shouted Naruto.

Konohamaru nodded, "I agree, but that's not the face I'm pointing at."

Naruto looked back to the faces on the mountain. He saw that all the Hokage's faces had been blacked out, defaced and broken off. The damage was too great to make out the difference between one face and the next.

He grew angry, six of the faces on the mountain had been completely humiliated. The seventh face, Sasuke's was the only left intact.

"That bastard destroyed all the other faces!", shouted Naruto.

Konohamaru sighed, "Yes, but you're missing the point. Count the faces again."

Naruto counted seven of them, "Wait.. seven?"

He looked closely at the sixth face, but it was too badly destroyed to make out who it was. Then he saw three whisker masks on either cheek of the giant face, the only part left intact. "Those are… that is… I was…?", stuttered the flabbergasted boy.

"Yup, I'm looking at the future Rokudaime Hokage.", said Konohamaru with a genuine smile.

Naruto felt his heart beat rapidly out of control. He had managed to do it? He had managed to become the sixth.

"Although remember nii-san, just because the future right now says you'll become the Sixth doesn't mean you will. You'll still have to work hard for…."

"I know! Seeing this just made me realize how possible my dream is. I'm going to work a hundred times harder and make sure that I be the best Hokage ever!", proclaimed Naruto.

Konohamaru laughed at the boyish antics and then spoke again, "My old gramps, when he was fighting Pein, used the last bit of his chakra to encase your face on the mountain. He wanted to make sure, that even if you were to die, your face would never be forgotten. It's been a year since Sasuke's been trying to destroy that face. He managed to get most of it, but the chakra around the cheeks is most. It's almost as if he knew that you'd be coming."

Naruto felt feelings of warmth enter his chest. Even in death, the old man always managed to take care of him. "Heh, don't worry Konohamaru, I'll make sure when I get back, I defeat those bastards."

Konohamaru nodded, "Yeah, I believe you."

Naruto then looked at the boy again, remembering the little outbreak he'd had, "Oh yeah Konohamaru, how exactly did you manage to stop me?"

"I'm excellent at chakra manipulation. I simply absorbed your chakra and released it into the atmosphere around me. It's an easy task for me, after all I was your Toad Sannin.", said Konohamaru with a grin.

Naruto was left open-mouthed, "You managed to finish that natural chakra training?"

"Hehe, yeah I did, and I finished it off faster than you did nii-san.", said the man with a smile.

Naruto pumped his fist in the air and shouted, "Alright it's decided! As soon as I get back I'm going to train for a week straight!"

"That's really sweet… but you're going to die here, so you won't need to worry about it anymore.", said a cold voice.

Naruto turned around to see who it was. The voice though cold and dead, somehow sounded familiar.

He saw the six Pein(s) standing behind him. He saw five familiar faces, but the sixth one seemed to be hidden. It was the sixth one that had spoken.

"Didn't I just kill you this morning?", said the voice again, the man stepped into view.

Naruto felt his heart die when he saw the sixth body. It was his sensei, the only difference was he had the same eyes that the other five Pein(s) did. "Ji-jiraiya sensei? You're alive?"

Konohamaru quickly picked up the boy as a large black colored bolt shot towards the place where he had been.

Konohamaru placed Naruto on the floor and spoke, "Naruto-nii-san please don't think of him as your sensei. That is the same mistake you made earlier this morning and during all your previous battles. He's nothing more than a puppet now. Just, stay here, I'll handle them."

Konohamaru leapt into the fray, blocking attacks and striking back. The leader lifted his arms, ready to make it rain, but Konohamaru quickly kicked him in the chest, breaking up the jutsu.

As five of the Pein(s) fought Konohamaru, the sixth one, Jiraiya snuck towards Naruto.

"I guess this is good bye Naruto-kun.", said the man, charging up a rasengan in his right hand.

Naruto's brain had stopped functioning. He saw his sensei coming towards him with the spiraling ball of chakra.

Konohamaru saw what was happening. He gathered his chakra and released it through his pores. The massive burst of chakra sent the five Akatsuki members surrounding him flying away. Within the blink of an eye the man disappeared.

Jiraiya plunged the rasengan into the dazed blonde's chest. The boy suffered a good five seconds of the attack, before Konohamaru appeared.

Konohamaru pulled away 'Jiraiya' from the boy. He threw the former sannin to the ground.

Naruto was bleeding severely from his front. Konohamaru went to take a look at the boy's injuries, but Naruto had started to disappear.

Konohamaru gave the blonde a sad smile, "Good, you're being returned to your time. It was nice seeing you again nii-san."

Konohamaru turned around as the imposter Jiraiya got back to his feet.

"No! Let me help too!", shouted Naruto.

"Don't worry nii-san I can take care of this.", said Konohamaru. The man put his hands in a ram seal and shouted, "Sage Mode Activated!" Konohamaru burst with chakra; he was radiating at least ten times the amount he was before. The chakra could be literally seen around him, bright white in color.

Jiraiya charged, a huge explosion was the last thing Naruto saw, before he was teleported back.

--

(With Rika and Kensei)

"..and that's when he met me.", said Rika.

_Flaashback_

Kensei loomed around the empty streets gloomily. He had been kicked out of the last village, they didn't want a monster amongst them.

He was currently in Grass. It was a happy place and known for its peaceful nature. However, even in this place he was hated by the people. People threw stuff at him, but that didn't hurt him as much as the people who pointedly ignored him. Cold eyes that refused to acknowledge his existence, those hurt the most.

He was crossing a dusty bridge that lay over a narrow, deep river. He saw a girl running towards him, she wore the hitai-ate for grass, and Kensei could gauge her abilities to be at genin level. She was holding a small animal in her hand, a rabbit.

The girl still looking at the rabbit bumped into him. The small creature went flying out of her hands, headed straight towards the river below.

"Usagi-chan!", shouted the girl, trying to catch the rabbit.

Kensei sighed as a thin, pitch black tail shot out and grabbed the rabbit. It hoisted it safely back into the girl's hands.

The girl hugged the rabbit and then bowed at the man in front of her, "Thank you…Mr uhm..?"

"Monster, demon, devil, jinchuuriki. Choose whichever one you like.", said the man in a depressed voice and started to walk away.

The girl recognized who the man was. She had heard of him from her teacher. He had told her to be weary of the 'monster' and that if she got too close to him, he would kill her. She held the rabbit closer to her chest and ran away.

(Later that night)

Rika was walking back towards her apartment. She lived alone, her parents had died a long time ago. She had her rabbit in her arms. Adoring the furry creature, she didn't notice the people in front of her.

She bumped into one of them, an older, drunk man. "Oi watch where.. you're going!", shouted the drunk person.

His friends surrounded the little girl, there were four of them in total, and all seemed to be intoxicated.

"Heh, she's pretty cute actually. Girl do your parents know you're here?", asked on of the men.

"My-my parents are dead.", said the frightened girl.

"Ah, that won't complicate things then.", said one of the men, grabbing the girl.

The girl was lifted off her feet and carried into a dark alley.

There was a single lamp that lit the alley, it kept flickering on and off. One of the men grabbed the rabbit from her arms and started to throw it around. "Hey you guys want to bet how far I can throw this thing?", he shouted to the others.

The other men all laughed. "No please give usagi-chan back!", shouted the genin.

The men simply ignored her. The one with the rabbit in his hands prepared to throw the creature when a black colored bolt pierced his forehead, killing him instantly.

The light flickered on and the girl saw the man from earlier. His left hand was entirely black and his fingernails were elongated. His hand looked like a black claw.

The light switched off and two more screams of pain, along with the splashing sound of blood hitting the floor was heard.

The light switched on again, she got another look a the 'demon'. He had two black tails sticking out from behind him and his eye were completely black. He had a wide grin etched onto his face and blood dripped from his pointed canines.

The light switched off, she heard another scream.

The light switched on and she saw the last remaining drunkard pinned to the wall by the man's claw. The claw pierced his heart, lungs and most vital organs. Blood was dripping form the man's corpse, staining the wall. Then she noticed something strange about the 'demon'.

The light switched off again and she felt herself being hoisted into the air, something sharp was biting into her skin.

The light switched on again and she saw the man holding her up with his claw. She saw his tail shoot towards her.

The light switched off, she closed her eyes, but the pain didn't come. She felt the man release her and she fell back to the ground. She heard the shuffling sounds of the man's footsteps. The light switched on, he was gone.

The girl quickly picked up the rabbit from the alley floor and ran after the man. She found him soon enough. His left hand was entirely covered with blood and his clothes were stained with it too. The black claw like thing had disappeared.

She ran up to him and tapped him on his back. The man turned around, blank expression on his face.

"Yes?", he asked.

"Thanks for saving me, I'm Rika.", said the girl.

The man nodded and started to walk away.

Rika ran after him again, "Can I come along with you? I'm a genin so I can be of use to you. Also, I don't have any parents or friends here."

The man was surprised, "Y-you want to travel with me?"

"Yeah.", answered Rika.

"Why? I'm a demon.", said the man emotionlessly.

"No you're not.", said the girl.

The man looked confused, "What makes you say that?"

"I saw you in the alley. You were crying. Demons don't cry.", said the girl simply.

The man nodded and then smiled, he hadn't thought of that himself.

"Alright, Rika-chan. You can travel with me.", said the man.

"Alright! But what's your name?", asked the girl.

"Benito Kensei.", replied the man.

"Okay, I'll call you Benito.", said the girl.

"Alright.", replied the girl.

"No wait, I'll call you Kensei."

"Okay."

"No actually maybe I'll call you Benito."

"That's fine."

"Actually, I'm not sure, they're both such good names, difficult to decide.", said the girl, thinking about it carefully.

Kensei continued to walk with the girl, waiting for her decision.

"You know what? I can't decide!", said the girl giving up.

Kensei smiled, "Yeah, me neither."

_Flashback End_

"Ah, and that's why you stick along.", said Friza, nodding in understanding.

"Yes. And the reason why he's so eccentric is because of the demon inside him. He learned that the demon gained control of his body, whenever he was excessively sad or angry. He knew that since I was travelling with him, my life might be in danger. So, to make sure that he wouldn't ever hurt me, he decided to smile and act happy all the time. Even after the beast was removed from him, he continued to do so, mainly because he got used to it. He's a great man, people don't understand that.", continued Rika sadly.

"Then why doesn't he clear up his name now? You know, tell everyone the truth and stuff.", asked Friza.

"He keeps saying that he's too lazy to. But, I think he does it to punish himself. To punish himself for all the innocent deaths he has caused, even if they weren't his fault. He feels responsible for letting so many people die.", explained Rika.

There was silence in the room, the only sound that came was from Kensei, he was snoring.

Friza was about to speak when she there was a flash of light in the couch next her. The light faded and Naruto was back. He was bleeding profusely from his chest. The skin on his chest had been torn badly and was slowly healing itself.

Kensei snorted and woke up, rubbing his eyes. "Ah, welcome back.", he said to the injured boy casually.

Rika and Friza however had taken a more serious approach. They had started to patch up the boy, stopping the bleeding. Naruto had fainted from the excessive blood loss.

Kensei reached for the sake bottle again, checking if it was still empty.

The women carried Naruto into the bedroom and lay him down on the bed. They sighed with relief when they saw the boy start breathing again.

Kensei nodded as the two females came back, "Good job."

--

(With Asuma and co.)

The group jumped from branch to branch, almost at the village of Grass. Asuma was in the lead, followed closely by his students Shikamaru, Chouji and Ino.

"Asuma-sensei why do we have to go to Grass they don't even have any military prowess.", whined Ino.

"Grass may not be a very strong political or military figure, but the inventors are famous all over the world. Their weapon designs and strategic plans are renowned everywhere. They could turn out to be a very useful ally for Konoha. Also, like the previous shinobi wars, there won't be a single village that isn't dragged into the fight. They may take a stand of neutrality right now, but eventually they will be attacked and forced to do so themselves. So, it'd be better if we got to them before our enemies did.", explained Asuma.

Shikamaru and Chouji both nodded at the explanation.

"Ah, there it is.", said Asuma pointing at a grassy field in front of him. There was a small wooden gate with the sign for Grass on it.

Another couple of minutes later, the Konoha team had cleared the short distance and were standing in front of the guards.

"We're here to meet with the ruler. We have come from Konoha on a diplomatic mission.", said Asuma to one of the men.

The guards nodded and opened up the gates.

The city was beautiful, the floor was grassy and the entire place was clean. Stalls and shops were neatly arranged on either side of the street.

"Wow. This place is awesome.", said the amazed Nara.

"Yeah.", agreed the other three.

--

(With Naruto)

Naruto groaned slightly as he got up. He was lying on a bed and felt like his head had been split in two. He quickly took out a kunai when he remembered being attacked by Jiraiya. He looked around, but there was no imminent threat. He sheathed his kunai and got off the bed.

The bedroom door was open and he could hear voices coming from the room ahead. He entered the room and saw Rika, Kensei and Friza chatting about something.

"Kensei I'm going to fucking kill you.", shouted Naruto as he slowly walked up to the man.

Rika however stopped him, "Naruto-san don't over-exert yourself. Go take a seat."

Naruto wanted to hit the man, but refrained from doing so. He went and sat down on the empty couch.

"So it worked?!", asked Friza excitedly.

"Yeah, it worked. It teleported me ten years into the future.", said Naruto.

"That's good news! I can finally start creating these on a larger scale now!", exclaimed the happy woman.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you.", said Naruto.

"Why?", asked Friza.

"The future ten years from now sucks. It's a dangerous place, one filled with chaos and misery. You'd just be sending people to their death.", explained the boy.

Kensei decided to speak up at this point, "So you met Jiraiya then?"

"How do you know that?", asked the surprised Naruto.

"Well I heard that Pein took Jiraiya's body with him. Also, after I killed off two of his bodies, he managed to replace them with new ones. It's sort of obvious what was going to happen. He most probably healed the body then possessed it.", explained Kensei.

Naruto nodded, and then sadly spoke, "Yeah, I don't know if I can fight him."

"Well you're going to have to, otherwise you'll be killed easily. They can use Jiraiya-chan as a weakness against you. They will exploit it and then destroy you.", said Kensei with a smile.

Naruto sighed. "We better get training then."

"Good choice, let's start now.", said Kensei.

The two males left the room and headed out for the street. Naruto immediately put on a disguise and managed to do so in time. He saw a couple of familiar faces pass by. It was Asuma and his team.

Naruto waved at the passing Konoha ninja, acting like a civilian.

Kensei just ignored them and continued to walk. "I found a good place where we can train without being discovered.", said the man.

The soon reached their destination, a grassy field with a large tree in the center. The place was well hidden from the village and was large enough to train in.

"So what are we going to learn today?", asked Naruto.

"We're going to continue with our genjutsu training and then later on we'll have a workout for your wind affinity training.", answered the man.

"Alright, start.", said Naruto, unsealing his tonfa.

Kensei threw a couple of kunai at him, which Naruto didn't dodge. He remembered that the man didn't carry a weapons pouch. All of them passed through, save one which pierced his right arm.

"Shit!", muttered Naruto. He pulled out the weapon and threw it aside. The cut had already started to heal.

"Haha, you have to make sure they're illusions. Logic alone won't help you. At least not with me it won't.", shouted the man.

Naruto growled and charged the man. He swung the tonfa, but it went through Kensei's body. 'Illusion', thought Naruto. He flared his chakra once and the illusion was gone.

He saw the real man a few feet away and charged at him. He swung again, Kensei dodged.

Kensei wielded the umbrella in his right hand and swung it downwards. Naruto didn't bother dodging, he knew the man couldn't bend his right arm, hence this was fake. Sure enough, the umbrella passed through him. Naruto continued his attack.

He saw a black colored claw attack him from the side. He focused on dispelling the illusion, but couldn't. 'Shit! This is real!', he thought to himself, quickly jumping over the approaching limb.

Kensei saw the boy jump and using the umbrella in his left hand shot out a black colored bolt towards the boy.

Naruto quickly created a shadow clone and used it to maneuver him away from the attack. The bolt pierced the clone and it poofed out of existence.

--

(With Asuma and co.)

After hours of discussing political matters and debating about the advantages and disadvantages of a treaty with Konoha, the team was given a break, while the ruler thought about his decision.

They had an apartment in one of the hotels close-by. Ino loitered around in the streets, window shopping. She had managed to drag Chouji along with her. Shikamaru and Asuma had received an anonymous note that told them to meet in a field nearby.

The handwriting was childish and revealed no details about the subject of the meeting.

The two ninjas wearily reached the field, where they saw a man standing over a blonde boy.

--

(With Naruto)

Naruto lay panting on the grass. His shirt was slightly bloody and sweat was accumulating on his brow. The tonfa lay a small distance away.

"Not bad, but you still need to improve.", said Kensei. "Anyway, it's time for your wind affinity training, enjoy!"

Naruto got up slowly, expecting to have another duel with the man, but Kensei had disappeared. Naruto looked around, searching his surroundings for the man, when he saw Asuma and Shikamaru staring at him.

"Oh shit, I hate Kensei!", said the boy to himself.

"Naruto are you going to come peacefully or not?", shouted Asuma.

"No I'm not.", shouted Naruto back.

"Alright then, I'm going to have to use force.", said Asuma, taking out his trench knives.

Shikamaru had no clue as to whether he should help his sensei, or Naruto.

"Shikamaru, I'll handle this.", said Asuma.

Shikamaru nodded, this way he wouldn't have to choose, and also, he wouldn't have to exert himself.

Naruto saw Asuma run at him with his trench knives. He couldn't see the wind chakra surrounding the blades, but his affinity allowed him to feel it.

He quickly bent backwards to avoid the first strike, then did a hand-stand to dodge the second. He jumped back to his feet and picked up the tonfa lying on the ground.

"Sanctum Alpha.", said the boy, wind chakra enveloping the weapon. Asuma's eyes went wide, he felt the wind around the boy's blade, and they were perfectly invisible. 'That's pretty good for someone his age.', he thought to himself.

Naruto twirled around both tonfa and released two miniature tornadoes, "Tonfari Arts : Uzumaki Tornado!", said the boy. Not wasting a single second, Naruto charged at the man.

Asuma dodged the tornadoes but his left arm was hit by the second one. He didn't have time to observe the extent of the injury, as he was charged by Naruto.

Naruto swung his tonfa at the man. Asuma ducked under the invisible blade and using the boy's momentum, propelled him over his shoulders.

Naruto landed on his back. Asuma charged this time, aiming a strike for the downed boy. Naruto quickly rolled to the side and kicked the approaching Asuma's hand. The trench knife flew out and landed on the ground a few feet away.

Naruto got back to his feet and swiped with his right tonfa. Asuma blocked the attack with his remaining knife. Naruto swung the other tonfa and opened up a large diagonal cut on the jounin's chest.

Asuma collapsed to the floor. Naruto ordered his chakra to stop widening the cuts, he didn't want to hurt the man.. more. Shikamaru came running towards the two ninja. He quickly checked for Asuma's pulse.

"Don't worry I'm still alive. Just got my ass handed to me that's all.", said Asuma, lying on the grassy floor.

Naruto nodded at Shikamaru, "Nice to meet you again."

Shikamaru nodded back, "You better escape now. I'm going to have to take Asuma to the hospital, so this will be your only chance."

Asuma nodded his agreement, "And good job with the wind affinity. You're starting to get a hang of it.", said the man.

Naruto grinned widely, "Hehe, thanks Asuma-sensei. I'll be leaving now. Say hi to the baa-chan and jii-san for me."

The blonde simply waved at the two and headed back for his apartment. He found Kensei on the way there.

"What the hell were you doing!", shouted Naruto angrily.

"Just testing you abilities. You wind control is good, what you lack is good techniques and moves for it. I'll teach you some after you clear stage one.", said Kensei happily.

Naruto nodded, Kensei's analysis was accurate. He needed more ways to use the wind to his advantage. "Speaking of elemental affinities, which ones do you have?"

"I don't know. I never bothered checking. Didn't need to anyway.", said the man.

"Hmm, I was thinking about something. Is it mere coincidence that Kurenai met me during my initial genjutsu training, and then Asuma met me during my wind affinity evaluation? You wouldn't have something to do with it would you?", asked the boy suspiciously.

Kensei started to whistle a tune, ignoring the boy. After having dodged the question successfully, he spoke again, "Where are we going to go next?"

"I have no clue. Most places are under surveillance and all the ones I do find get compromised thanks to you.", said Naruto angrily.

"Hehe, that's true.", laughed the man.

"We could head for Lightening next. Besides I still haven't met up with the informant there.", said Naruto.

Kensei nodded.

"Alright then, let's head for Lightening.", said Naruto.

--

(With Nemui and Yugito)

The two ninjas stood in front of the blonde Hokage.

"Ah well done Nemui.", praised Tsunade.

"Nemui? So that's your name. Fits you well. And why are we in front of the Hokage?", she asked the man.

"I ordered Nemui to look after you Nii Yugito. He's making sure that the Akatsuki don't get to you.", answered Tsunade.

"So he's from Konoha then?", asked Yugito.

"That's not important. You can return to Lightening now Yugito, but Nemui here will be accompanying you. However, you are not to reveal this to anyone, not even the Raikage. (Lightening kage) Nemui will only be affiliated with you for the time being.", explained Tsunade.

Yugito sighed, "Yes, Hokage-sama.", she said with a bow.

"Good you may leave now.", said Tsunade.

Yugito and Nemui walked out. Nemui disappeared once outside the office, he wasn't to be seen in Konoha. Yugito quickly exited the building. She couldn't see Nemui, but knew he was close by.

"So you're assigned to baby-sit me I see.", said Yugito irritatedly.

"Precisely kitty-sama.", replied the man mockingly.

Yugito growled, "I know your name too you know? Nemui-chan.", she said in an attempt to piss the ex-ANBU captain off.

"Heh, sorta has a ring to it.", said the man, further infuriating the jinchuuriki.

--

(With Naruto and co., night time)

Naruto was in the lead, trailing behind were Rika and Kensei. They had bade Dr. Friza their goodbye's and were now on their way to lightening.

After having travelled for most of the day, the ninjas had grown tired. They set up camp for the night. Two tents were set up and a bonfire lit. The ninjas settled down around the fire, the heat radiated from it countered the chilly wind of the night.

"There's only two tents. Will you be sleeping with Kensei, Rika-chan?", asked the boy. Rika was like an elder sister to the boy. She was in charge of patching him up when Kensei went overboard. The two had developed a sense of trust for each other.

"Hehe, I wish that was true.", said Kensei with a laugh, causing Rika to blush.

"No, Kensei-sama doesn't like sleeping inside tents. He thinks they're too cramped up. He prefers to sleep outside.", answered Rika.

"Ah I see.", said Naruto.

"I'll keep watch.", said Kensei cheerfully as he set his sleeping bag next to the fire.

Naruto and Rika nodded, heading for their tents. Sleep soon took over and the night went by.

The three ninjas took off once again in the morning. Naruto was in the lead once again. Rika was close behind him and Kensei was trailing behind.

"So did the Akatsuki come after you Kensei?", asked Naruto, slowing down to match the older man's dawdling pace.

"You already know they did Naru-chan.", replied the man.

Naruto nodded, "Yeah, but I don't know how you managed to stay alive even after they sucked out the tiger."

"Ah you know it was a tiger? You must've been talking to one of the frogs. Ah, I miss the frogs, I had a great time on Mount Myouboku with them.", said the man with a smile.

Naruto bristled at the comment and unsealed his tonfa in one swift motion. He channeled wind chakra through them and swiped one at the older man.

Kensei sighed and let the tonfa cut him. It sliced at his side, making a deep cut.

"You call killing off all those innocent toads a great time? Sick bastard.", said Naruto angrily.

What Kensei was talking about was the good times he'd had alongside Jiraiya, training and learning from the toads. Rika knew this and wanted to help clear the misunderstanding, but a single glance from Kensei told her she was not to interfere.

"Hehe, that's right, that night was fuuun. I'm sad Jiraiya left though, might've managed to kill him too, haha.", said Kensei in a happy tone.

Naruto shook his head at the man's madness. He pulled out his tonfa from the man's side and sealed them again. Kensei's cut started to heal. Naruto once again resumed the journey, taking the lead. He had forgotten about the question he had asked Kensei.

Kensei began to hum again, singing a song in his head.

--

(With Nemui and Yugito)

The two ninja approached the giant gates. Yugito was let in without any questioning, she was treated as a princess in Lightening. Most jinchuuriki often had tough lives, Yugito however was not one of them.

She was Lightening's greatest weapon of mass destruction. One of the reasons that the village could hold it's own against the other great shinobi villages. She was treated well. Nemui snuck in when the guards opened the gates for the woman. He had no difficulty in keeping his presence masked; most of his ANBU career had required him to do so.

They reached a clean, white building, lavishly furnished. Yugito owned an apartment in the building. She climbed the stairs to the third floor and unlocked her door. She slid in and felt something brush past her.

She locked the door behind her, at which point Nemui came into view. He was standing behind her, waiting for something.

"What?", asked the woman.

"Where's my room?", asked the man.

"You mean you don't want to share the bed with me?", Yugito asked seductively.

"No thanks, I still have my dignity. So where's my room?", repeated the man.

Yugito felt her blood boil, as it often did around the man. She simply pointed at a small room to the right. "That one, mine is straight across the hallway and the kitchen is further down."

Nemui nodded, "Alright, thanks. Will you go report to the Raikage now?"

"No, he'll already know I'm back. The guards must have alerted him by now. I'll go report if he asks me to. Anyway, I'm going to go sleep now, so if you have any questions please feel free to bother someone else.", replied Yugito, heading for her room.

Nemui nodded to the woman's back and headed for his own room.

His room was too decorated for his tastes. The walls were too thick, so surveillance on his target, i.e. Yugito would be difficult. Paintings of random things hung from the walls. Some of them freaked out the former ANBU captain, who was used to living in a prison-cell like room.

He arranged his baggage neatly in one corner of the room and then lay down on the bed.

'Ah this is the one thing that I definitely prefer to my ANBU quarters. This bed is soo comfortable.', thought the man to himself.

--

(With Asuma and co.)

The jounin stood in front of the Hokage along with his team.

"Mission to Grass was a success Hokage-sama. They have agreed to from an alliance with us.", said Asuma.

"Good job, why are you so roughed up though? It was just a diplomatic mission.", asked Tsunade.

"Er.. well that is… we sort of met Naruto.", Asuma tried to explain.

"Pardon?", asked Tsunade, not understanding what the man had just muttered.

Shikamaru sighed and spoke up, "During our mission, we received a random tip off. We went to check what it was and found Naruto. He refused to come quietly so Asuma fought him and got his ass kicked. Badly."

His other two teammates snickered, trying not to laugh out loud. Asuma just looked away, taking large puffs from his cigarette.

Tsunade sighed and shook her head, "Very well. I'm assuming you don't know where he's headed next?", she asked.

"No idea.", replied Asuma.

"Okay, you may leave. Good job with the mission anyway.", she said to the team.

Once they had left Tsunade frowned deeply, 'Naruto you idiot. I really do hope you become Hokage, so that you too are punished with all this paperwork.'

--

(With Naruto and co.)

They were in Lightening. The feelings of hatred towards Kensei were forgotten by the blonde ninja, as he was stunned by the beauty of the architecture around him. Lightening was a small place, and hence the buildings built were tall, to accommodate all of the civilians.

The buildings were taller than Naruto had ever seen, they almost touched the sky. The designs too, were innovative and awe-inspiring. They checked into the cheapest hotel available, which was pretty expensive as well. Naruto had been paying directly from his savings all this time, and money was starting to run low.

"Oi, Kensei! We need money, I'm not going to be able to pay for more than a couple of days at this rate.", said Naruto to the man.

"Hmm, okay. I'll go collect a bounty later on.", said Kensei, also engrossed in the structural designs of the village.

They deposited their luggage in the rooms and decided to rest for a bit. Rika went to her bedroom, while the two men sat outside in the common area.

"You never answered my question Kensei. How did you manage to stay alive after the Akatsuki got you?", asked Naruto.

"No no, Naru-chan. I can only answer that question after you've successfully finished your training.", said the man.

"Fine.", sighed Naruto. "But tell me when I'm going to learn something besides genjutsu. I'm getting sick of it, besides I'm already at a good enough level."

"Have you heard of Uchiha Itachi?", asked Kensei.

"Yes, of course. He's that bastard Sasuke's brother. Wish he'd finished his job properly when he had the chance.", said Naruto angrily. He didn't bear a grudge against any of the Uchiha's, just Sasuke.

"Yes, well one of the techniques he uses is Tsukiyomi. (Goddess of moon) It's an extremely powerful genjutsu that allows him to break a person mentally. He traps you in a world where he control time and space. 72 hours, that's how long you stay in his world, although to people looking at you it may only seem a second has passed. It's one of the most powerful genjutsu in the shinobi world right now, and once caught in it, it's impossible to escape.", explained Kensei in a bored manner.

"How do you know all this?", asked Naruto.

"I hear things all the time. This is one of them. So, we will make sure that you are capable enough of breaking past a genjutsu at Itachi's level. However, I will also start up a side-session of elemental affinity training.", nodded Kensei.

"Alright!", said Naruto.

--

(With Nemui and Yugito)

Yugito was taking a walk in the fresh village air while Nemui followed her closely.

"Hey, why did you quit the ANBU?", asked Yugito curiously.

"Can't talk about it.", replied Nemui.

"Well but--", Yugito was interrupted as she felt a massive surge of chakra nearby.

The woman quickly changed her direction and headed for the source. "We need to go check what it is.", said Yugito.

"Why.. let's just ignore it. We'll take care of it if it attacks us or something.", said the man lazily following Yugito.

"Lazy ass, this is my village. I need to know if there's something dangerous, so I can protect the people.", said Yugito.

"Fine whatever.", said the man.

They arrived at their destination and saw a huge gust of wind blowing in the air. A small red-head boy was twirling a set of tonfa around, apparently controlling the wind. There was a man with an umbrella standing and watching the boy.

"Hey! Who are you people and why are you here?", shouted Yugito.

--

(With Naruto)

The sudden shout surprised Naruto. The wind died down and his henge was dispelled, revealing his blonde locks and actual face. Kensei sighed and removed his henge as well.

"Stupid Naru-chan. We haven't even been here for a day and you've managed to blow our cover.", said Kensei.

Naruto stared angrily at the taller man, "So what! You've already got us busted twice!"

Kensei ignored the boy, looking at the woman who had shouted.

"You get the girl. I'll get the other guy.", said Kensei.

Naruto looked around but saw no-one besides the woman, "Other guy? And this won't necessarily be a fight! So don't start getting violent!"

"Yes it will.", replied Kensei.

"I asked you who you were.", shouted Yugito again.

Naruto sighed, they'd have to escape again. "I'm Uzumaki Naruto from Konoha. We're here to visit, that's all."

Yugito recognized the name, 'The Kyuubi jinchuuriki.'

"You're going to have to fight me then.", shouted Yugito.

"Why? I haven't really done anything to upset you have I?", shouted back Naruto, trying to talk his way out of this.

"No, but you ran away from Konoha, so I'll be returning you. Besides, I want to fight you.", replied Yugito.

Naruto didn't have time to answer to that, he saw the woman charge at him.

Yugito threw a couple of kunai and yelled, "Kai!".

Naruto dodged the kunai but was blasted away as the last one exploded. It tore of a part of his shirt, but there was no major damage. His wounds had already begun to heal.

--

(With Nemui)

Nemui got slightly worried when the man with the umbrella, next to Naruto disappeared. However, he didn't worry about it. Their target was Naruto. He unclipped his staff and ran towards the boy.

He cam to a stop however, when he was whacked backwards with an umbrella. He was pushed back a few feet, staff firmly embedded in the ground. The attack had been non-fatal, just a warning shot.

He looked up to see the umbrella wielding man smile at him. He could feel a dangerous aura being emitted from the man. Nemui dropped his jutsu and came into view.

"Aha, so an ANBU captain then? That's good, this will be fun.", said Kensei happily.

"What's your name?", asked Nemui cautiously.

"I'll tell you after you answer my question, Nemui-san.", said the man with a grin.

Nemui lifted his eyebrows curiously, 'He knows my name.', "What question?"

"Are you willing to let Naruto-kun go free? Your mission doesn't state that you need to capture him. As part of the Yoinokuchi, you're assigned to simply protect that jinchuuriki over there right?", said Kensei, pointing at Yugito.

Nemui's drooping demeanor changed immediately. His back straightened and the bored expression on his face changed into a blank one.

"Who are you? I expect an answer in the next five seconds.", said the man in a voice laced with killing intent.

"Aww, trying to scare me?", laughed Kensei. "Just answer my question and I'll tell you who I am."

"Time's up.", said Nemui, swinging his staff forward.

Kensei brought up his umbrella to defend, but the man had already disappeared, along with his staff.

--

(With Naruto and Yugito)

Naruto got back to his feet, still a bit woozy from the explosion. However, before his eyes could stop spinning, he was punched in the stomach by Yugito.

Yugito drove her fist inwards, knocking the air out of the boy. She wasn't giving him a chance to retaliate. Grabbing onto the boy's shoulder, she continued to punch his face, making sure he wouldn't escape.

Naruto felt his nose break and most of his jaw shatter. The woman packed a mean punch. He was bleeding badly and his vision was all blurry. Finally, the woman let go of him and he fell limply to the floor.

He rolled over to his side and spat out some blood. He slowly sat up, leaning against a tree.

Naruto looked around for the woman and saw her standing in front of him, a few feet away, oddly quiet. He didn't know what she was doing, but decided to take advantage of it.

He got up to his feet, using the tree as a crutch. He tried reaching for a kunai, but before he could a claw made purely of purpleish-black chakra plunged into his stomach.

He was pinned back against the tree, as this odd chakra formation squirmed about inside him. He coughed up more blood and looked up at the woman. She was encased in the purple chakra and had two tails erupting from the end of her spins.

She had her left hand extended outwards, the chakra around it had expanded and shot out towards him, hence the claw inside him.

"Aww.. no fuckin.. way.", wheezed Naruto as he felt the world around him go dark.

--

Oh yeah!! 100,000 words, da de da de da!

I was listening to 'The Time Has Come by Josh "Shyboy" Andy', it's from the Devil May Cry OST. It's the song that plays every time you start fighting a bad guy. Or like every time those monster thingeys appear, you know.. the rock song.

Anyway, I love the song and the lyrics.

Hope you enjoyed the chapter.

Read and Review. Thanks.

Bye.


	15. Chapter 14 : Giants Fell

None of this is belongs to mine.

Sex – Scenery, Situations

"Sex" – People talking

"**Sex"** – Kyuubi talking in mindscape / Jinchuurikis talking

'Sex' – Person thinking

'**Sex'** - Kyuubi talking

Once again, sorry for the long hiatus guys. Just got through my first semester at college, and things have been weird to say the least. Here's a chapter that should hopefully start of the next saga with a bang. Enjoy and R&R!

-x-x-

(Somewhere in Fire country. 5 years since the Fourth Great Shinobi War)

The barren grey land cracked under the feet of the three nomads. There was no greenery anywhere. The small amount of trees would occasionally grow, but then soon turn dark and began to rot. The wind was empty, hollow and lacked any empathy.

"So... that went well."

"Kensei I need you to stop talking right now."

"Hey, if you hadn't eaten it, we'd all still be here…"

"That's enough! You're stepping over the line", interrupted the blonde woman.

She had a long ponytail that fell to the small of her back. A single red ribbon swirled around the bundle of hair, weaving in and out of the golden strands. The only weapon on her was a three-pronged kunai. The Yondaime had immortalized the kunai. The weapon had a pitch-black grip and small red kanji that spelled out 'whore'.

She wore black shinobi pants and a high collared sleeveless jacket. The jacket was part black and part off-white. The woman had bandages on either hand, which ended in purple fingerless gloves. Red chains ran around both her arms, ending abruptly with the bandages.

"No, he's right. I'm sorry Yugito. I wouldn't wish this upon my worst enemy. Nemui… may you find peace."

Yugito gave a shrug and traced the kanji on her kunai. Kensei shot a look at the woman. He had draped around his shoulder, what appeared to be a hastily torn tablecloth. It was a faded gray in color. Every once in a while, you could catch glimpses of his lower body. He wore ragged cargo shorts that covered three fourths of his legs. He had no footwear on. A worn out, black umbrella was clipped onto his right side.

"Hey Rika's dead too, and you don't see me freaking out about it do you?", Kensei chimed in, with a nonchalant grin on his face.

"She's not dead Kensei. And I'll make sure we find her, if it's the last thing I do!", yelled the third and final member of the rag-tag group.

"How you ever beat me is just unbelievable…", replied Kensei.

An awkward silence fell over the group. Kensei gave a small chuckle and said, "Oh that's right. The little blonde-haired Kyuubi-condom never could beat me!"

Naruto gave a heavy sigh and replied to Kensei's taunts with a sever look of hatred on his face. "Kensei, don't get in my way. With Rika gone, I have no love left for you."

A solid beam of black chakra shout out of Kensei's cloak. It penetrated Naruto's skull and dissipated into nothing. Yugito had her kunai drawn and ready to strike with. The red chain around her right arm seemed to be fused with the kunai.

Naruto flickered for a second as the projectile hit him. Then flashing back into position, he launched a right hook at Kensei. Naruto wore a dark green t-shirt and a navy sleeveless shinobi jacket. His hair had gotten longer and fell till his shoulder blades. His hair was darker now, of a yellowish-orange consistency. He wore black sandals and baggy black pants. He had no visible weaponry on his person.

Kensei quickly turned his upper body towards Naruto. He lifted his right hand and shot another black chakra beam aimed for Naruto's fist. He grabbed the umbrella with his left hand.

The chakra evaporated as it hit an invisible wall of wind around the blonde blur's fist. Kensei swung his umbrella around and took out the two shadow clones that had appeared behind him. A javelin shaped tail shout out from underneath Kensei's cloak and stabbed the still approaching Naruto between the eyes.

Yugito tried to enter the fray but was quickly pulled to the ground by a Naruto clone. A giant spinning ball of chakra went flying over her. She looked back to see Naruto clones hurling rasen-shurikens at Kensei.

Kensei quickly dispatched a group of clones and prepared to dodge the rapidly approaching balls of chakra. He felt a hand on his shoulder, keeping him in place. Naruto stood behind him with slitted pupils glaring intently at the approaching rasen-shuriken.

Kensei's tail shot out to disembowel the man. Naruto tightened his grip on Kensei's shoulder and managed to grab the tail with an extension of a bright red chakra claw that enveloped only his left hand.

Naruto stood a few feet from the sight, arms crossed. "Yugito, get out of here."

Yugito nodded and chucked her kunai into the distance. She managed to flash to safety, as the ground behind her rumbled and quaked.

Kensei smirked and rapidly started to call upon the pitch-black chakra. It enveloped his body and then rapidly expanded outwards in the shape of a sphere. It exploded outwards on contact with the rasen-shuriken.

The rasen-shuriken obliterated everything in its path, save for Kensei. The black sphere of chakra leveled the scarce amounts of trees as it exploded. Naruto charged at Kensei, a rasengan already forming in his left hand.

He plunged the rasengan into Kensei's face. Kensei met the rasengan with his right hand, extinguishing it with his bare palm. He brought the umbrella up with his left hand, slashing at Naruto.

Naruto squirmed to free his hand of Kensei's grip, but to no avail. He formed a bright red katana around his free hand and managed to stop the blade midway.

Kensei tightened his grip on Naruto's hand, and then started to flash through one-handed seals. The umbrella pushed past Naruto's katana, burying itself a couple of inches into his shoulder.

"Naa naa naa naa. Na na, na na. Can't block this.", yelled Kensei as a stream of black liquid poured out of his right hand. It streamed down Naruto's captured hand, melting his skin and bone alike.

Naruto yelled in pain as the corrosive liquid ate into his flesh. The katana faltered and lost shape. Naruto swerved to avoid a fatal blow. The umbrella buried itself deep into the boy's shoulder. "What colors do you see now?", asked Kensei.

Kensei let go of his hand. Naruto fell to his knees. His left hand had been stripped to its bone. Naruto looked helplessly at Kensei, as he pulled out the umbrella with excruciating slowness. Naruto looked at the umbrella, which resembled more of an axe now. It was deep red in color and a black outline ran around its edge. Kensei brought down the axe for the final blow. No words were spoken.

Naruto let out a roar and bright red chakra shot out of his pores. It enveloped his entire body, except his fleshless arm. Two tails shout out and stabbed at Kensei. He managed to block them both with the axe.

Naruto leapt back, but Kensei would not let up. Kensei charged with no rational movements. His swings were well timed and deadly. He interspersed these with random blasts of black chakra bolts. The Kyuubi chakra would easily dissolve the chakra bolts, but would reform at a slower pace every time.

Naruto right hand was back to its usual form, the Kyuubi chakra working overtime on his wound. He knew even this chakra would not stop Kensei's blade. Naruto finally managed to get free of Kensei's barrage by letting his clones take the blows instead.

Naruto stared at his left hand, now a messy pulp of bone and melted flesh. The black liquid was still working its way up to his shoulder. It was melting through his flesh and his coat of Kyuubi chakra as well. Naruto brought a tail up and quickly severed his left hand.

"Alright Kensei, lets end this!", shouted Naruto.

Kensei did not respond. He was frowning. He quickly laid waste the Naruto clones and clipped the axe back to his side. He started flashing through seals with both hands.

Naruto winced slightly as the Kyuubi chakra faded from his body. He took a deep breath and closed his eyes. He heard Kensei shout something. He opened his eyes and muttered, "Sage Mode Activate".

Kensei finished his hand seals and shot out copious amounts of the black liquid. It seeped along the ground and eroded everything it touched. With his other hand, Kensei summoned a large ball of flame, which lit the liquid on fire.

"You're trying to get me to use up all my chakra. I'll have to spend extra chakra on making sure I don't touch anything around me. But you seem to forget that I have as much chakra as you do Kensei, if not more.", said Naruto.

Kensei had a blank look on his face. "I've had enough of your backtalk.", he said in a angry tone. Kensei blinked out of existence and appeared behind Naruto, swinging his axe diagonally downwards. The axe cut through the man, who disappeared in a plume of smoke. Crouching beneath the now-gone body of the Naruto clone was another rasengan bearing clone. He stabbed the ball of chakra deep inside Kensei's side before poofing out of existence. Kensei let out a bellow and shot out bolts of chakra from every part of his body.

-x-x

(20 miles from Konoha outskirts. Camp Suzaku [Phoenix] )

The small two-room hut smelled of pineapples and explosive traps.

It had a thatch roof made of straw. A single window was propped onto a side of the shelter. The residents however had drawn their curtain, blocking all outside view. The door similarly was closed and bolted.

Music echoed within walls of the small hut. It was loud, yet unobtrusive. The first room had an old green couch lying parallel to the wall of the second room. A relatively newer, yet faded rug lay on the floor between the couch and shouji-board. A second door cut off the bedroom from view. It laid halfway open.

The door was a deep purple in color and smelt like roses. Strewn across the foot of the door, half in and half out was a crimson, rectangular scarf. The second room had a twin bed, magazines of Kunoichi Weekly and a small weapon sharpening & maintaining repair desk.

The moans got louder from within the second room. A giant metal fan was held in place on the wall across the bed by the help of two nails. The springs on the bed were squeaking in protest.

A blonde haired woman with four spiky ponytails was sitting on top of a man's member. The man in question was wearing a black, full-sleeved shirt. Strewn on the other side of the bed was a green sleeveless shinobi jacket and black shinobi pants. The man had long black hair that fell up to his chin in a shaggy manner.

"Oh it's been so long Shika-kun!" cried the woman, pumping her hips at a rhythmically increasing pace.

"Haa.. yeah." replied Shikamaru.

"Maybe next.. ah time, you.. aaah could do some..thing.", replied the blonde. Her loins were wet with her own juices. Sweat trickled down between her large breasts, running a shiver down her spine. She rocked in ecstasy, engulfing the entirety of Shikamaru's junk.

Shikamaru exhaled deeply with each pump. "I'm.. haa. That's nice"

"Tha..thanks", replied the woman.

"I'm ho..lding your.. hands aren't I Temari?", said Shikamaru. Temari had both hands locked palms down with the man.

Temari gave a slight frown and continued to pump. They started to speed up, letting out louder moans with each passing stroke. Temari's breasts bounced with no regard for gravity. They lasted for another twenty seconds before climaxing together. Temari fell asleep on Shikamaru.

"Khe.. I'm still inside you Temari.", he whispered to the sleeping woman. He brushed her hair away from her face and started to fumble around on the table next to the bed. He gave a quick glance down below and pulled out of Temari.

"Aw man, what a mess, leaves me to do all the cleaning. Menduksou! [Troublesome] "

He stared at the blonde curled up on top of him. He gave a sigh and kicked the covers up with his feet. He lit a cigarette and made sure the smoke blew away from Temari. He put an arm around the woman. Sleep came soon.

-x-x-

(Somewhere in Fire country.)

Kensei let out a bellow and shot out bolts of chakra from every part of his body.

The multitude of Naruto clones was immediately destroyed. Naruto took his chance and lunged at Kensei with a roundhouse kick. Kensei, still recovering, barely managed to sidestep the limb. He was however caught by the cone of wind around Naruto's foot. It shredded a good portion of his left cheek.

Kensei stabbed at the orange haired shinobi with his umbrella. Now accurately aware of the shape of Kensei's weapon, Naruto had no problem judging its trajectory and quickly leaping out of the way. Kensei was furious; bloodlust filled the air around him. The cut on his cheek had already been sewn up together by thin strands of dark chakra.

**"Did I ever tell you how many tails I had?"**, asked Kensei in a hoarse, demonic voice.

-x-

Naruto seized this opportunity to take a trip inwards. He hadn't been back inside for so long. The ceiling was the same shade of grey as everything around him. The roof was leaking and flooded most of the path.

Naruto made his way through the maze, ignoring the graffiti on the walls around him. He reached the cage and flared his chakra.

"**Back for more huh?"** rang a loud, booming voice.

"Just give me some more kitsune [fox]", replied Naruto.

"**Oh combining my chakra with your natural chakra again are we? Maybe you've forgotten what happened to that little douchebag that always hung around you. Hahaha!"**, bellowed the Kyuubi.

"His name is.."

"**Was. Konoha-something as I can recall. Madara's little bitch now isn't he?"**, chuckled the nine-tailed demon.

Naruto stared quietly at the fox. He got on one knee and looked straight into the fox's eyes. He pulled up his left pant leg. His leg was ash black below the knee. On it was tattooed a circular seal.

"**You fucking little bra-"**, roared the Kyuubi as three of his tails disappeared.

Naruto removed his bloody thumb from the seal.

"**Remember if you die, I'm going to make sure I kill your travel buddies first!"**, roared the fox.

"Not anymore kitsune. You know that if I die, so do you.", replied the boy as he started limping his way back.

"**WOOOOAA!", **roared the fox.

-x-

As he passed the grey cement walls once again, he paused at one particular graffiti drawing. It had a large spiral in the shape of the old Konoha symbol. Sketched around it were four different initials. UN, SK, K and NM. Naruto took out a kunai and slashed the K.

**"Did I ever tell you how many tails I had?"**, asked Kensei in a hoarse, demonic voice. Four tails shout out from Kensei. They swirled around chaotically, sweeping every which way.

"Here's something I, **haven't shown you yet Kensei. You shall be the first to fall to this technique. And Madara shall be the last."** , said Naruto as the Kyuubi chakra added to his natural sage mode chakra and wind chakra. The resulting chakra was a bright orange in color, matching the man's hair. The wind chakra made a whining noise as it flowed around Naruto's body.

Kensei started the charge. Yugito could barely see what was happening. She took shelter in the top branches of one of the few remaining trees. She was pumping chakra into her eyes to be able to keep up with the superhuman pace of the fight.

Kensei dashed over the fiery battleground. As he effortlessly zipped over the blazing liquid, clones started to emerge from said liquid. They multiplied exponentially, reaching the hundred mark.

Kensei then disappeared from view, letting the clones charge Naruto. Naruto started walking towards the approaching enemies. He pulled out his left hand and a bright white sphere of chakra formed in his hands. It was slightly larger than a rasengan and emitted nothing but white noise. The only time you could see the wind chakra in the condensed ball was when a small rupture in the outer surface of the sphere would appear.

Naruto then quickened his pace. He flashed to the centre of the Kensei-clones, leaving behind only an afterimage.

**"Namikaze Tornado!"**, he roared as he got down on one knee and slammed the ball into the blazing liquid below. The black liquid parted and the white sphere of light and chakra exploded on contact with the earth.

Yugito gasped and reached for her kunai once again. However, she shot it towards Naruto.

The sphere imploded inwards for a brief second, creating a vacuum powerful enough to pull the clones closer together. The Namikaze Tornado then exploded, pulsating circular waves of chakra. The waves combined to form a controlled tornado, which ripped the clones to shreds. The entire effect ended in a tremendous flash of light.

The clones, the black liquid and the fire were all gone. Naruto stood at the epicenter of the explosion, mostly unharmed.

Yugito popped into existence and immediately yelled, "NARUTO! YOUR BAD SIDE!"

**"Yugito I told you to stay out of this!"**, yelled Naruto.

Kensei came barreling from Naruto's left. His four tails shot out, aimed directly at Naruto's jugular.

**"I noticed you didn't use any clones Naruto!"**, yelled Kensei.

The orange haired man tensed up a bit. But Kensei came to a stop two feet from Naruto. One of his tails was bent at an awkward angle. The other tails flickered in and out of view.

Kensei brought his axe up for a final blow. However, before he could swing, a claw of pure orange chakra burst through his chest. The axe fell limply to the ground, changing back into an umbrella.

The black chakra faded from Kensei's body. He looked back to see another Naruto standing beside him.

"Good job asshole.", muttered Kensei before collapsing.

Naruto too fell to the ground as the three chakras receded. He crawled over to check for Kensei's pulse.

"I'm sorry, Rika-chan.", sighed the man.

Yugito rushed to his side. "How did you do that?"

"The liquid was never real. Genjutsu from the get go. I realized that after Kensei managed to call upon four tails. As far as I knew, he only had one. So obviously, my hand had always been intact. I kept up a Genjutsu of my own to fool Kensei.", explained Naruto.

"And the clones? And the rasengan thing you just did?", asked Yugito.

"I've never tried to make clones in that stage before. I took a gamble and it paid off. I switched places with my clone at the last moment of the Namikaze Tornado.", answered the man. "I knew Kensei had something up his sleeve. I also knew he would try to attack me from my left. So when I saw you rushing towards me, I knew where to strike from."

"How did you know I was coming? I used the Hiraishin-no Jutsu [Yellow Flash]", asked Yugito determined to prod holes in Naruto's story.

"I had another clone find you, in case my gamble didn't work. Kensei wouldn't have attacked you, but you would've tried to fight him anyway.", said Naruto as he got back to his feet.

"Thanks..", muttered Yugito with a distant look in her eyes.

"I don't feel like facing Rika-chan anymore. But we still need to get her back. Lets burn Kensei and leave.", ordered Naruto.

Yugito nodded and started going through some hand seals. Naruto grabbed Kensei's umbrella and clipped it onto his back.

As the fire engulfed Kensei, Naruto gave a small bow to his former sensei.

"Where's Rika-chan now?", asked Yugito.

"We'll have to find out from my source.", replied Naruto.

"FUCK! I hate that guy!", yelled Yugito finally letting her face betray emotion.

Naruto allowed his lips to curve into a smile unseen by the woman. He looked back at her and nodded. And they were both gone.

-x-x

Yeah it's shorter, but I just wanted to get it out there.

Kensei says Sayonara!


	16. Chapter 15 : Madara

None of this is belongs to mine.

"Talking"

"**Jinchuuriki Talking"**

'Thinking'

'**Jinchuriki Mind Talk'**

Scene/Description

(Author Notes)

-xx-

(Sound Village)

"Why are you doing this to us?" the woman yelled. She had long red hair, which fell to her shoulders. She sported a dirty, patched up shirt and torn boxer-length shorts. The woman was struggling to get away from her hooded kidnapper.

"Would you shut up already? There's only one reason I haven't disposed of you, you useless piece of trash! Kensei is sure to wind up looking for you. I'd like to get rid of that fool once and for all.", replied the man in an irritated manner.

"That makes me happy, Madara. Because I know you couldn't beat Kensei, even if he did fall for your trap.", the woman retorted. The kidnapper pulled her to a stop and took of his hood. He had long, spiky black hair and wore a faded Akatsuki cape with deep red sandals. His right eye bore a scar that ran parallel to his nose. His sharingan was activated.

"Do not speak of what you have no knowledge Rika-chan. I've been around longer than Kensei and your pitiful existences combined." , replied Madara.

He was staring at the sight in front of him. Shinobi crowded the large underground cavern. The walls were covered with relics from ancient wars and portraits of lavish women. In the centre of the room sat a rectangular mahogany table with three chairs. Two of the three empty seats had been occupied while the middle one laid vacant.

"So how do you like our new HQ? It's the face of the new shinobi alliance.", asked Madara.

"The real shinobi are the ones who still fight your tyranny!" exclaimed Rika.

"No, those are the nuke-nin. The minority and the scum of my beautiful nation. I'll make sure the guards are extra nice to you for all your cooperation."

Madara made a hand gesture and two shinobi grabbed hold of Rika. "Do what you must to get her nice and silent. But do not kill her! I'll make sure I slit this bitch's throat in front of Kensei!"

Rika struggled and screamed, but the guards muffled her cries.

-xx-

(20 miles from Konoha outskirts. Camp Suzaku)

The orange haired shinobi landed in the forest clearing with a dull thud. He covered his forehead with his left arm and stated to no one in particular, "Angou! [password]"

Yugito kept staring at the air in front of her. She had her left hand positioned in the same manner as Naruto.

"This always makes me miss forehead protectors.", she stated.

Naruto nodded, "I believe that's why Shikamaru chose it. To remind us of a time when things were better, even if they weren't perfect."

"I still don't like the way he leers at me." said Yugito.

"In all fairness you've tried to kill him twice.", replied Naruto. The air in front of him began to rip. He brought his left hand down.

"Hey! That's not true! Blame that Sasuke freak's sharingan." Yugito exclaimed. The air now had a large enough rip for the two of them to pass through.

"Yes, but that was the second time. After you." said the man, motioning towards the rip.

Yugito exhaled deeply and stepped in, followed by Naruto. A relatively pleasant sight met them. The camp was half the size Konoha had been. Ninjas from different parts of the world lived together in harmony under the protection of a high-powered genjutsu. The genjutsu was provided by some of the finest specialists the shinobi world had to offer.

The rip in the air repaired itself behind Naruto and Yugito.

"Well I still don't understand why we have to meet with him. There's four other camps we could've made it to faster!" complained Yugito.

"Yes we could've. But with the recent rumors of dissent and double-dealings I've been receiving through the spy network, Shikamaru would be our most trusted bet. Besides, I haven't met any of my four guardians in over two years." explained Naruto.

Yugito shrugged, "So send them a note or something. I just don't get why we're wasting so much time, while Rika-chan is being held captive!"

Naruto stopped walking. "Rika is my first and only priority Yugito. And if you don't trust me, I'll make arrangements for a different travel partner."

Yugito frowned, "No it's not that Naruto-kun. Khe, we're here now so lets get through this."

Naruto nodded and turned towards the shack on his right. He knocked twice on the door and heard a shuffling of feet from inside. Temari opened the door. She was wielding a kunai in her hand.

"Oh! Naruto-kun it's been so long!" Temari exclaimed happily, placing the kunai on a sheath near the door.

"Temari-chan, you look as beautiful as you did at the wedding. Is the lazy prick home?", asked Naruto with the first smile he'd shown in months.

Temari hugged Naruto and ushered him in. Yugito stepped up next, awkwardly waving at the woman.

"Who let her in?" Temari shouted as she re-equipped the kunai.

"It's alright, she's been travelling with me for a year now." said Naruto, gently taking the kunai from Temari's hand.

Temari walked away from the door and let Yugito in. She closed and bolted the door behind them. Shikamaru was idling on the couch, flipping through a Kunoichi Weekly magazine. His hair was tied in his traditional pineapple shaped ponytail.

"Good to see you again Shikamaru!", Naruto exclaimed as he entered the room.

Shikamaru recognized the voice and was grinning before he could confirm his suspicions.

"NARUTO!", the Nara jumped to his feet and caught Naruto in a bear hug.

He then caught sight of the woman behind him and immediately formed a rat-seal.

"Trying for a third time?", he shouted at Yugito.

Yugito looked away with a frown.

"She's with me Shikamaru, and I need some help from you.", said Naruto.

Shikamaru sighed and sat back down on the couch, Temari sat down beside him still eyeballing Yugito.

"Guys, she's been with me for a year now. If you trust me, trust her as well. I have important matters to discuss with you and can't be worried about someone getting stabbed…" Naruto looked at Shikamaru, "…again."

"Hey! She caught me off guard!", Shikamaru tried to reason.

"No I walked up to you and stabbed you in the gut I believe.", chimed in Yugito.

Naruto sigh, "Not helping Yugito."

"Well if it makes you feel any better, I was under that Sasuke-teme's control when I attacked you." said Yugito.

"Yeah, and which time was that?", asked Temari heatedly.

"Alright that's enough! Shikamaru and I need to catch up on old times. Temari, it was lovely meeting you again, I'll be back with your husband in an hour. Yugito you can stay here and try to work things out with Temari or you can check out the rest of the camp. I believe it's your first time here?"

"I'll take a walk outside. And yes it is my first time here. Are we going to be here long? I worry for Rika-chan's safety.", replied Yugito.

Both Temari and Shikamaru perked up on hearing this. "What's wrong with Rika-chan?", they said simultaneously.

Naruto gave Yugito a sarcastic 'well done' look and answered the couple, "She's been captured by Uchiha Madara. It happened a day ago. We came here as fast as we could. It should take Madara two days before he reaches his base. That gives us one day of catching up before I head out." answered Naruto.

"What do you mean by 'I'? If you think I'm going to let you go up against Madara alone, you must've knocked something loose up there!", said Yugito angrily.

"I'm sorry, I obviously meant we.", said Naruto hurriedly.

"You better have.", said Yugito as she headed towards the door.

"Yugito could you run some errands for me while you're exploring?", asked Naruto.

"Sure thing, what do you need?", said Yugito turning back to look at him.

"Here, I've written it all down on this. See you soon." he handed over a rectangular piece of paper. Yugito looked at it then folded it up and put it in her breast pocket. Her boobs jiggled slightly as she reached inside.

Shikamaru was staring intently at the movements.

"HEY! WHAT'RE YOU LOOKING AT?" shouted Temari from behind them. She had a magazine rolled up and whacked Shikamaru with it.

"Give it a rest woman! I married you didn't I? I must have a thing for blondes is all.", replied Shikamaru.

Naruto sighed and put his hand on Shikamaru's shoulder. They both flashed out of sight as Temari swung down the magazine with renewed vigor.

"You still suck with the ladies I see?", asked Naruto as the two men appeared behind a ramen stand.

"Hey I remember a time when the same could be said about you.", said Shikamaru lighting a cigarette. "Hope you don't mind Naruto"

"AH that was such a long time ago. And no I don't.", replied Naruto.

The two men walked over to the front of the stand. Naruto grabbed a seat and Shikamaru took the one next to him.

The waitress was in her mid 30s. She had long brown hair and wore a white piece of cloth on the back of her head. She wore a light pink kimono and brown sandals. She placed an ashtray next to Shikamaru.

"Thanks Ayame-chan.", nodded Shikamaru.

"Don't worry about it, what will it be today?", Ayame asked the men without looking up from her notepad.

"How about twenty bowls of vegetable and pork ramen to get me started off. And two here for Shikamaru.", ordered Naruto with a wide grin.

Ayame looked up from the pad, she recognized the voice. "Naruto-kun! It's so good to se you again!", she exclaimed happily and flung herself on the boy across the counter.

Naruto returned the hug eagerly. "You couldn't have aged a day over eighteen Ayame-chan."

Ayame blushed at the remark, "Naruto-kun you were always a charmer. Let me go get your food."

"Still got it.", Naruto said to Shikamaru as Ayame disappeared behind the fryers.

Shikamaru smiled at the man's antics.

"So tell me how you're getting to Madara's. And tell me why you won't be able to take anyone else with?" asked Shikamaru.

Ayame entered once again and placed two cups of warm green tea in front of them. "Your food will be ready in ten.", she said with a smile.

"Thank you Ayame-chan.", replied Naruto.

As soon as she was gone, Naruto began to speak again, "You haven't lost your intelligence with old age I see."

"Old age? For a shinobi maybe, but for a civilian I'm in the prime of my life."

"Just because you say you aren't a shinobi anymore, doesn't make it true Shikamaru.", replied Naruto.

Shikamaru took a deep inhale of the cigarette and responded, "The world has lost its mind Naruto. We could've saved it if the fourth war never happened. But it did and Madara is now head poncho for most of the world. Do you realize how crazy it is for the lawful, old-fashioned shinobi to be hunted down like traitors?"

"Ofcourse I do, which is why time is my only option.", replied Naruto.

Shikamaru stared at the man and put out his cigarette. "No. Naruto, time doesn't solve anything, it makes things worse. Also, you haven't answered me yet. I may not have seen you in two years, but I do know what type of person you are. The type that would rush after Rika-chan the second he was able to. So tell me why you're here Naruto. And it better not involve that umbrella."

Ayame returned with their meals. The men continued to make small talk with the waitress. By the time they'd finished their meal it was getting to be evening. Ayame brought out the bill and set it down between them.

"I'll take that.", said Shikamaru quickly grabbing the bill.

Naruto was about to start protesting, but Shikamaru handed it back to him. Naruto looked at the bill. Scribbled on it was Ayame's address and the time she got off work. Shikamaru took out some cash and left it on the table. "You can take care of the tip I'm sure.", said the man with a smirk. He started walking away.

"Hey! That's not funny.", replied Naruto as he quickly doled out a couple of notes. "I don't want Ayame to be just another woman I've slept with."

"Well Ichiraku-san's been gone for four years now. She hasn't been with anyone since. This might help her get back on her feet. Or off them." smiled Shikamaru.

"Stop doing that.", said Naruto irritated.

"Doing what?"

"You know what. You keep making those jokes, suggesting I'm actually going to go through with this. Stop doing that.", answered Naruto.

"No.", came Shikamaru's brief response.

-xx-

(Camp Suzaku, Western end)

Yugito pulled the note out of her pocket. "Lets see… I got him extra Kunai, explosive tags and shuriken. Now I need to find this Shiro woman."

She glanced at the address on the note. "Should be around here.."

A four-storey apartment building stood along the side of the road. Orochimaru had formerly used it for his various, infamous deeds. The camp had formed around the structure, yet the building looked untouched. Yugito knocked on the door but got no response. She turned the knob around but it wouldn't open the door.

A small nook in the wall next to the door housed a blue metal pin. Yugito looked at it for a second before she stuck her finger inside, drawing trace amounts of blood. A wave of chakra ran over the door and it clicked open. Yugito pushed open the door.

"Naruto… you bastard.."

-xx-

(Camp Suzaku, Eastern End, Shikamaru's Crib)

Shikamaru moved his piece forward with clear determination. Naruto struggled to match the man's shougi skills, which were legendary to say the least. Temari was sitting on the couch, polishing her fan.

"So how much danger is Rika-chan really in?", asked Shiamaru.

"Rika-chan and I came up with a way to end this madness. And while I would prefer nothing more than.. damn it!", yelled Naruto as Shikamaru ended the game.

"Again?", asked Shikamaru.

"Yeah sure, we have time. Speaking of which, Rika-chan finally confirmed my suspicions about Kensei. And with that last piece of information, my plan fell into place."

Shikamaru looked up briefly. His eyes wandered to the umbrella hanging on a hook next to the door.

Naruto nodded and moved his piece, "Yeah, I was sure you would understand. The rest was simple. I had to get Rika-chan captured somehow. With Kensei around, this was harder than I had imagined. And losses were suffered…"

"Yeah I heard about Itachi-san and Shiro. I'm sorry Naruto, I wish I could've been there..", replied Shikamaru.

-xx-

(Ten miles southeast of Sound Village, HQ of the New Shinobi Alliance. Three days ago)

Naruto's hand shot up, bringing the four shinobi to a complete halt.

"Itachi…"

"He' up ahead, alone. And waiting for us.", replied Itachi.

"Alright, Shiro your only responsibility here is Yugito.", said Naruto in an authoritative tone.

"Got it.", replied the woman garbed in a translucent grey shirt and light green shorts that barely covered her thighs.

Yugito frowned and then nodded.

"Alright Itachi, you and I will lead the charge. Rika-chan and Kensei will provide us with additional support. I would stay out of Kensei's way though. He's still eager to fight you.", said Naruto.

Itachi stared into the distance ahead, sharingan activated.

"Yugito and Shiro, you will be responsible for getting Friza-san's research material. Expect the base to be heavily guarded. Good luck and remember if I fall, you are to proceed with plan B.", ordered the orange-haired man.

"Am I the only one who doesn't know what plan B is?", asked an irritated Yugito.

Naruto stared at her for a second before replying, "Run away."

That's when a large plume of smoke rose up behind them, filling the night sky.

"Damn it! Kensei's already attacking! Alright move out!", and with that the four shinobi split up. Yugito and Shiro hid their chakras and crouched low on the ground, waiting for their chance to sneak past the battling ninjas.

"Rika-chan, I can sense Madara up ahead. Now go on, you're the bait.", he said gently nudging the woman forward.

"Alright Kensei-sama.", replied the woman. She took of with a burst of chakra. Sure enough, Madara stood five feet from the approaching woman.

Rika put her hands in opposite sleeves of her kimono and shout out four shuriken. Madara smirked as the shuriken passed through him. Rika threw a punch at the man, which passed through him once again. She continued her barrage eventually jumping back a couple of feet, tired and frustrated.

"Hahahaha! My turn foolish girl!", shouted Madara bending his knees. He dug his heel into the ground and launched himself forwards. At the exact same moment, a large spike of black chakra shot out from the ground beneath Madara. It cracked through the ground releasing a large cloud of sand. It managed to pierce his right foot.

"Khe, this filthy black chakra… Kensei why don't you come out and play?", spat Madara.

Kensei strolled out, coming to a stop next to Rika. He had a black chakra tail protruding from the end of his spine. It was buried in the ground behind Kensei, out of Madara's sight.

"I've heard a lot about you Madara. I think you've spent enough time amongst the living.", replied Kensei.

"Hahaha! You're one to talk Kensei-chan. Or is it Benito this time?", shouted Madara.

"Uwaaaah!" roared Naruto as he charged Madara with his rasengan. Madara sidestepped the Naruto clone and popped it out of existence with a swift chop.

"So the illustrious Naruto joins us as well. Konohamaru sends his regards.", said Madara with a smirk.

Naruto stood behind Madara expressionless. The three shinobi had Madara surrounded. "Give up Madara, you can't beat us all. I've studied your space-time jutsus as well. There's no way out this time.", replied Naruto channeling the wind chakra around his fists into a cone.

(With Shiro and Yugito)

"So what exactly does Friza-san's research include?", asked Yugito in a hushed voice.

Shiro turned around and touched the blonde woman's shoulder. They turned invisible, camouflaging with the environment behind them.

"It's a pill that can teleport people to different places or times.", replied Shiro standing up. "Alright lets get moving. Naruto had Madara surrounded, we should take this chance."

Yugito looked in Naruto's direction then quickly turned back to Shiro. The two kunoichi sneaked past the shinobi guarding the doors with ease. However, as they made their way across the oddly decorated halls, Shiro brought them to a stop.

"What's wrong?", asked Yugito.

"We're not in Sound anymore.", said the woman plainly.

Yugito closed her eyes and concentrated on her chakra and the chakra around her. "This doesn't feel like a genjutsu.. It feels like an entirely different.."

"World? Yes, we're trapped in Madara's alternative dimension.", replied Shiro.

Yugito sighed and punched a vase. It cracked into pieces then reformed itself. "How do we get out?"

"I tried disrupting my chakra, but this technique is much stronger than a genjutsu. We'll need to look around for a way out. What worries me most is how Madara got us already? And who else he has in here…", said Shiro solemnly.

-xx-

Hope you enjoyed reading. I've got a shitload of ideas waiting to burst out, but I'm pacing myself so that the plot maintains some manner of consistency. On a Chevelle listening loop right meow. Check out Jars by them, it's a great song.

So anyway, Read and Review if you fee like it. You don't need to be signed in to Review.

dguruishtar out.


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